Star Phantom: Ghost Stallion of Ponyville Season 2
by General Jo
Summary: Star Phantom, the Ghost Stallion of Ponyville, is slowly becoming the town's official hero. But as his popularity goes, his enemies grow stronger. As alliances are forged and new opponents arise, Star is going to need all the help he can get. Good thing he's got a lot of friends and family who can help him out. But will he be ready to face his ultimate enemy?
1. Chapter 1: Normal

It was another sunny day in Ponyville. The townsfolk were out enjoying their day. Just outside of town was a huge farm with acres upon acres of apple trees, run by the Apple family, who christened it, Sweet Apple Acres. In the acres, a trio of ponies were working on the trees.

An orange earth pony mare with a cowboy hat slammed her back legs against the tree, causing it to shake and drop it's assortment of apples. She watched as the apples fell perfectly into the baskets waiting below. She wiped some sweat off her forehead and looked over at the two stallions working on the opposite trees. A bright red stallion with a harness attached to his back bucked his tree with one hoof, getting the same result. The other stallion, however, was a different story.

His fur was white with a black mane, he looked slightly less muscular than his two siblings, but he still had some meat on those bones. His cutie mark was a group of black stars surrounding a planet, signifying his talent of astronomy. He looked at the tree nervously, then reared up his back legs and thrust them toward the tree. But he didn't hit the tree, instead he missed, being a few inches off the mark for the kick.

"Ah!" He fell flat on his stomach hard. The two other ponies immediately ran over to him, worried.

"Star! Are ya alright?!" The orange pony shouted as he pulled himself up from the ground. He looked back to see his legs were missing. He screamed again right before his legs reappeared.

"I'm fine Applejack." He sighed "Darnit! I'm used to this, what is wrong with me today?!" He shouted, slamming his front hooves on the ground with anger.

"Yur just havin' an off day, Star." AJ said, wrapping a hoof around his neck. "Maybe ya shouldn't stay up so late tah look at the stars." Star blushed and nodded.

"Fine, I'll try not to." He groaned.

Big Mac chuckled. "You say that now." His younger sibling rolled his eyes, and hefted the apple bucket onto his back. The stallion struggled a little bit, as he was not as strong as his older brother, but Star managed.

Big Mac went back to his tree, however AppleJack stood there for a moment. She looked deep in thought. Her older brother noticed the distant look in her eyes.

"AJ." The orange mare blinked and looked at him. "Y'all okay?" AJ thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah, just… feels like we've been over this before." She said. Big Mac thought for a moment, but shrugged it off. They had work to do. Neither sibling heard the dark chuckle coming from the trees.

**Star Phantom in:**

**Normal**

**The W ll h $ N339 br00n. 0N3$ H(e)1P11**

It was busy in Ponyville, which was good for the pony vendors of the Ponyville Market, since they would be able to sell a lot more than usual. Star stood at the Apple Family Cart, the small chest on the counter was overflowing with bits. Everything was perfect so far. A little too perfect.

The stallion looked around, seemingly on edge. He wasn't sure why, but something didn't feel right. It was a feeling he had been getting for the past couple of weeks, starting from when he…

"Morning, Star." his train of thought was derailed by the voice. Standing in front of him was Rainbow Dash. He smiled at the sight of his marefriend, who had a smile equal to his.

"Morning, Dash. Here for your usual?" He immediately reached over to grab the two crispy apples that he kept under the counter when the pegasus' hoof stopped.

"Not this time, stud." She said sultry. "I was thinking… maybe a little 'stargazing' tonight, whaddaya say?" Star didn't even need to think about it. He nodded before leaning in to kiss.

"Rainbow Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!" The loving couple stopped to groan as a pink blur approached. Rainbow sighed before flapping her wings.

"I gotta go, see you at my place tonight?"

"Of course." Rainbow smiled, and flew off, the pink blur that was Pinkie Pie chasing after her. Star shook his head at the sight, slightly amused and peeved by the bubbly mare's interruption. Oh well, at least he would have tonight to make up for it.

Now what was Star thinking about? Eh, probably nothing important. He didn't hear the dark chuckle from one of his apples.

As the day drew to a close, Star pulled the cart back into the barn. The stallion unhooked the cart from his haunches, and stood in the barn. He felt a strange sense of deja vu. Why, he didn't know. He went into this barn, at least, twice a day.

What was in this barn that made him feel this way? Like he was missing something, like something wasn't right with the world. It was a feeling he couldn't shake.

There was a loud thud that scared him out of his self-reflection. Star looked toward the source of the noise, his cart. Something was in his cart. The earth pony grabbed the pitchfork that was hanging on the wall. He aimed the prongs at the cart as he slowly approached. He looked inside the small cart to see…

A book. That was it, a small, unmarked book. He put the pitchfork down and sighed. "Come on, Star, get a grip." He reached down to grab the book, but a loud barking stopped him. His gaze turned to see Winona standing in the door, the family dog wagging her tail at an alarming rate. Star walked over and kneeled down to pet her head. Before he could, however, the dog ran over to the cart and grabbed the book with her mouth.

"Hey, wait!" Winona paid no heed, and simply ran past him into the orchard. Star immediately gave chase. He tried to keep up with the family dog, who was a lot faster than he remembered her being.

The chase went all the way through the orchard toward the Everfree Forest. Star hesitated when he reached the border.

His mind flashed back to the last time he was in that forest.

_He was a lot younger then, only a small colt. However, the situation he was in was definitely not one a little colt should be in. He was running for his life from a small pack of Timberwolves. He was playing in the orchard, near the border, when they jumped out of nowhere. Star tried to run toward the barn, where he knew he would be safe, but the wolves blocked his path. He then ran into the only other place he could hide, the Everfree Forest. _

Star shook himself from the memory, one he did not want to remember. He ran into the woods, quickly catching up to Winona.

That dog was too fast for her own good. The stallion was having a hard time keeping up with her, it didn't help that the forest seemed to be doing everything in its power to separate the two of them.

"Winona, stop!" He called out, but the dog just ignored him and kept running. At this point, Star was running out of breath. He was not used to running this much.

'_If only I could just fly!' _Star thought to himself as he jumped over a large tree root. The chase lasted for who knows how long until they approached a clearing. Star stopped in his tracks, shocked at the sight before him. In front of his was a large, elderly stallion in a dark purple cloak. A large staff with a clock at the top was held by his magic. His pure white beard ran down to the ground.

Winona stopped in front of the cloaked stallion, dropping the book at his hooves. He grabbed the book, and gave her a soft pat on the head.

"Good girl, Winona." He said. She yipped in response. Star just stood there, completely perplexed. That stallion's gaze turned to him. "Hello, StarShine."

"How… how do you know my name?"

The elderly stallion chuckled. "I know everything."

"I know your past." In an instant, the elderly stallion changed into a small foal. Star reeled back in shock.

"Your present." He then became a young adult, much like Star.

"And future." And he was back to an elder. Star could only stare, his brain was struggling to process everything he had just heard and witnessed.

"I am Clockwork, Master of Time." The ghostly stallion continued. "And you, are so much more than you realize."

"What?"

Clockwork sighed, then raised his staff. "I'm sure you've noticed how strange everything is, correct?"

"Strange, how?" Star shrugged. "Everything seems normal to me."

"Precisely." A black swirling void appeared behind the Master. "Your life is not meant to be normal." Star looked into the void, as gestured by the other stallion, and what he saw amazed him.

_It was an earth pony, with black fur and a white mane, flying through the air, chasing ghosts, walking through walls, and lazing around Sweet Apple Acres. _

"You see, Star, this is you." Wait, what? "Your alternate persona, Star Phantom." Again, what? "You are something truly remarkable. A bridge between two worlds, one living, the other dead. The Halfa."

"Okay, hold up!" Star exclaimed. "What in the hell are you talking about?!"

"Keep looking, and you'll see." Star glared at Clockwork, then did as he was told. He looked back, and the itching that was at the back of his skull became almost unbearable.

Star clutched his head as memories came back.

_Star walked through the Apple Acres, carrying three baskets of apples on his back._

_He gripped his little sister tightly before taking off toward pony, much to the excitement of the pony in his forelegs._

"_Woo hoo!"_

_Star watched a concert by Octavia and her Orchestra from atop the same hill they had used as a stage the night before. It was a really well done performance, Star couldn't wait for them to perform at the Gala._

_Star and Luna slowly tango'd in a circle as the song began, their hooves stepped in line with the beat. _

Star blinked, and looked at his hooves. They went from the bright white he had always known to the glowing midnight black he had come to accept. He stood up, looking at the Master of Time, who only stood there with a small smile.

"Welcome back, Star Phantom."

Star chuckled. "I'd say it feels good to be back, but my headache makes a pretty good argument against it."

"Indeed, but now you have work to do." Star raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, but my recent memory is a bit… fuzzy, mind filling me in?"

Clockwork hummed. "I don't see why not." With a tilt of his staff, a new image appeared, one of a creature that looked like a mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink.

"This is Discord, the Spirit Master of Chaos. After a thousand years of imprisonment, he has escaped and was reeking havoc on Equestria. You attempted to stop him, but he erased your memories, rewrote your story, and has been hiding in the background ever since. Every time your memories tried to come back, he threw something at you to distract you."

'_Rainbow Dash' _Star thought back to. He knew it was weird how he couldn't remember when he started going out with her.

"And now he's no doubt planning on how to stop you now that your memory has come back."

Star nodded in understanding, a plan of his own already formulating. "I need my friends, plus the Elements." Clockwork nodded in return. "Agreed, you simply need to give remind your family and friends and theirs will return."

Star blinked. "Wow, that's… kinda easy."

The Master of Time shrugged. "Trust me, you don't want the longer version, it's rough." Star smiled, then motioned for Winona to follow him. He had to make one stop before leaving the Everfree.

Clockwork watched him go, fully aware of the eyes watching him from within the Spirit Realm. "Good Luck, Star Phantom." With that final wish, the Master of Time disappeared back into the Spirit Realm.

It didn't take long to find Zecora's Hut, he knew its location by heart at this point. He flew down to the ground, transforming back into Star Apple, Winona stood at his side. He marched up to the door of the hut and knocked. Within a few seconds, Zecora answered the door.

"Oh, who might it be, is that StarShine Apple I see?" She rhymed. Star smiled, same old Zecora.

"Mind if we come in?" He asked gently. The zebra nodded and opened the door wider to allow them entry. Once inside, she quickly slammed the door and rushed toward Star. The stallion had no time to react before Zecora forced him to drink something. Winona barked angrily at the aggressive move, but a look from the potion maker made her cease.

Star managed to push her off, coughing heavily from the force drinking. "What… what the hell, Zecora?!"

"A simple test for you, to make sure your answers are true." Star looked at her, completely confused.

"Uh, okay, ask away."

"When we first met, to what did I owe a debt?"

Star thought back to the "debt," which is strange, since he never gave her one.

"There wasn't one. I gave you those apples to make up for Ponyville being scared of you." Zecora said nothing, only nodding.

"After our friendship came to be, what secret did you reveal to me?" Star said nothing, he only transformed back into Star Phantom. Zecora's eyes widened, and a smile grew on her face.

"Last question, to fixing this problem, what is your suggestion?"

Star smiled, then told the zebra his plan. "If memories we need to relay, I'll have potions ready before the end of the day." The halfa shook his head.

"I don't know if I can wait that long, Zecora. I need another way of doing it and fast." Zecora pondered for a moment before an idea flew through her mind.

"If you need to reveal memories true, I have the solution for you." Star motioned for her to continue. She turned and grabbed a wind chime. "Make them remember their most memorable times, to clear their minds, use these chimes." Star grabbed the small brass instrument, completely confused.

"The chimes soothe the mind, to allow you access to the memories you must find." The halfa nodded in understanding.

"Alright, hopefully, this works, but just in case, start working on those potions." Zecora nodded and went to work immediately. Star watched her work for a moment before flying off, Winona chased after him. Once he was gone, the zebra stopped her work, and began to laugh, a deep masculine laugh. In a flash, Zecora was replaced by the Spirit of Chaos himself: Discord.

"Ha ha, he actually thought it would be that easy." He wiped a false tear from his eyes. "Oh this is going to be fun." He then turned to the audience. "As if I wasn't going to be smart this time, and who knew I could spit a sick rhyme." With a snap of his fingers, the Draconeques disappeared.

**To Be Continued**

**Right Now**

It was getting dark when Star returned to Ponyville. He clutched the chime tightly in his grip as he transformed back into Star Apple. "Alright, let's hope this works Winona. Thank goodness, AppleBloom is in Canterlot on that overnight trip." The dog yipped in agreement. They made their way back toward the house, where he could smell dinner being cooked.

**Star Phantom in:**

**Normal **

**Help Me, Discord is…. The Gr3 +3$+ Wr1+=r 3v3r…. (He's taking over!)**

Dinner was normal, which put Star on edge. If Discord was truly a spirit of chaos, he would've known that Star got his memories back and would try to stop him. But nothing. Maybe his luck was turning around. The stallion decided to worry about it after he ate his apple cobbler pie.

"Well, ah'm off tah bed, make sure tah clean up, Star." Granny Smith said as she slowly got up and trotted upstairs to her room.

"No problem, Granny." He called back. "But first…" He pulled out the chime and watched as his siblings gathered the dishes into the sink. The halfa grabbed a spoon from the table, and gently tapped the instrument. The note echoed through the room, all three siblings freezing in place.

"Alright, first step done and now I just have to-" Something licking the side of his face made the stallion freeze. Star slowly turned to see Big Mac, although a bit grayer than before, panting with his tongue hanging out. His older sibling barked before going outside. Star watched in amazement as the massive stallion dug deep into the ground with little effort.

"Wait, what?" He turned to look back into the house to see AppleJack, herself turning a new shade of gray, sitting casually in a chair with her legs on the table. She picked up an apple core and spat out pieces of the apple, rebuilding it into an uneaten apple.

"Um, ew. What the heck is…" Star blinked, then facehoofed as he realized what had just happened. "Discord." Chocolate rain poured from the cotton candy clouds as a maniacal laugh echoes like thunder. In a flash, the Spirit of Chaos himself arrives. Star stares at the dunce cap that also appeared on his head.

"You just got prank'd, boy!" The draconequus laughed while Star threw the dunce cap off his head. "Haha, the look on your face was priceless!" The halfa glared at him, his hooves glowing with ecto-energy. "Oh come now, Star, did you really expect me to do nothing while you foiled my plan."

"But everything was normal, how was that your plan?!"

"Oh please, it wasn't _my _idea, Star Phantom." That made Star raise an eyebrow. "It was yours." With a snap of his fingers, a pink cloud appeared and swirled into Star's vision.

_It was in the Palace Labyrinth, and AJ's friends were already going at each other while searching for Rainbow Dash. Star was by himself on the other side of the maze. He was tracking Discord, hoping to maybe slow him down until AJ can find the Elements. His Ghost Sense went off, alerting him to a spirit nearby. The halfa flew down the path and quickly reached a clearing in the maze. He stopped when he saw Discord simply sitting there, reading from some strange black box thing. _

"_I must say Star Phantom. You're stories are a fun read, not as amazing as some other works by bronies, but it's decent." Star raised both of his hooves, preparing his ecto-blasts. A snap of Discord's fingers ended that move. _

"_I'm shocked, I'm simply here to have a nice conversation with you and you want to blast me into a thermos." Star growled before lowering his hooves. _

"_Fine, let's talk."_

"_Splendid!" In a flash, (I keep saying this a lot, but dammit it works!) Star and Discord are sitting at a table. Star looked around, completely confused as Discord spoke. _

"_So, tell me all about yourself." Star stared at him, unsure of what to say. "Oh nevermind, I read the first fanfic, I know all about you, I just have to ask…" _

"_How does it feel knowing your life won't ever be normal?"_

_Star looked at the draconequus as if he had just grown a second head, which he did before the head popped like a balloon. "What? I learned to accept myself a long time ago." _

"_Did you?" Discord asked with a eeeevil grin. "Was it before you burnt down Ponyville, or after?" Star's eyes widened. "Was it after Big Mac broke his spine trying to compete with you, or AJ nearly killing herself from exhaustion just to make up for the work you don't do." _

"_Stop." Star muttered. _

"_Perhaps when Luna is forced to hide her actions from her dear older sister, or when you attempted to kiss her when she didn't love you back?" _

"_Stop it!" Memories of those events played out in his mind in rapid succession, all of the horrible things that have happened since he received his powers. _

"_Embarrassing Rainbow Dash, making Twilight become obsessed with catching you, the Buffalo preparing to fight wars for you, or perhaps, little AppleBloom, having to live her life waiting for ghosts to break into her home and take her older brother away." _

"_Quiet!" Star screamed to the high heavens. Discord put a calming claw on his back. _

"_Shh, it's okay, I can help." Star's form began to gray out. _

"_How?" _

"_Just say the word, wish for it all to have never happened and I can make it so. Whaddya say?" Star thought for only a moment, the horrible memories never stopped playing. _

"_End it, please, rewrite it." The halfa begged, tears fell from his face as he got on his knees. Discord grinned. _

"_Very well." There was a snap and everything went white. _

Star's breathing was heavy. Now he remembered, and he realized how big of a mistake he made. "Dammit." He muttered.

"So… what to do now, Star Phantom?" Discord mocked. "Care to try again?" An ecto-blast to the face was his answer.

"Fine, perhaps the past wasn't the best way to help you understand."

"Understand what?!" Star demanded, preparing another blast.

"Understand what you will become." Another cloud appeared, swirling. Star looked away, but his ears filled with voices.

"_Star, stop!" AppleJack shouted. _

"_Star, don't do this!" Luna begged. _

"_She suffers because of you Phantom!" Celestia roared. _

_Star laughed darkly as several voices screamed in terror. Ecto-blasts rang until the screams died out. "You unleashed the beast." _

"What did you say?" Discord asked, curious. Star stood there, colors swirling in his eyes.

"You unleashed the beast." Star repeated. His fur grayed out. His messy mane morphed into a permanent flame, his once green eyes turned blood red. The stallion's teeth sharpened into large fangs, his new snake-like tongue hissed between them. Star Phantom grinned.

"Ooh, big mistake Discord, you unleashed the beast." Discord screamed as the new Star Phantom lunged at him.

AJ blinked as her memories returned. "Twilight?" She muttered as she rubbed her aching head. "What?" The purple unicorn gave the earth pony a bear hug that could rival her older brother.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Twilight." AppleJack said plainly. "What happened?"

Twilight broke the hug and explained everything. How Discord tricked them, how he used their strengths against them, how he nearly won, and how he was now begging to be put back in stone.

"Wait wait wait. Discord, _wants_ to be put back into stone." The Spirit of Chaos appeared in her vision.

"Yes, yes, please put me back, I can't spend another minute knowing that freak is ready to kill me!"

AppleJack just stared at him. The draconequus leaned in. "Your brother is crazy, keep an eye on-" A punch to his jaw shut him up. The farmer violently shoved the spirit away and grabbed her Element. The six mares readied their magic. Discord never felt so happy to see a rainbow in his life as he laughed in relief as his body turned to stone.

The Apple Family didn't say anything, they ate in silence after the day's events. Star was the quietest, the stallion who used to eat like a pig barely touched his food. Everypony saw it, and were worried.

"Star, are ya okay?" AJ asked. Star looked up and gave a tired smile.

"Yeah, just a long day."

"Amen tah that." Granny smith muttered, rubbing her hips as she said so. The halfa stood up.

"Sorry, guys. I'm going to bed early." He didn't wait for a response as he heads up to his room. The stallion quickly closed his door and locked it. His room was dark and quiet. Star sighed, and looked at the tall mirror attached to the door.

He stared at the halfa before him, and it stared back with blood red eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Million bit Ghost

Another day, another ghost attack. Another ghost attack meant another appearance by Inviso-Bill, or Star Phantom as per his insistance. An appearance of Star Phantom meant more headaches for Twilight because it meant his adoring fans would come cheer him on. If there was one thing Twilight hated besides ghosts and disorganized books, it was the ever increasing amount of Phans who supported an evil entity.

Only she and a select few saw through his ruse. It was too bad only one of them was a friend. Her other friends were either Phans or becoming one. AppleJack was an open Phan, always supporting Phantom no matter what he did and even _helping_ him in fight; though she could never figure out who was giving her the equipment. Rarity was obviously a closet Phan, if the secret shrine she found in her Boutique was any indication. Fluttershy didn't really have an opinion on the matter, but Rainbow Dash was more than willing to 'take that spook down' as she put it; and Pinkie was just… Pinkie.

Twilight groaned as she realized just how outnumbered she was, if she didn't capture him soon, his influence might spread across all of Equestria! She had to put a stop to it.

**Star Phantom in: **

**Million Bit Ghost**

**Money Money… MONEY!**

Star Phantom flew through the streets of Ponyville, his thermos clung to him via a sling. Ponies waved hello as he flew by, an action he was still not used to. News spread about how he was the one who beat Discord, no doubt thanks to AppleJack telling everypony who went by her stand. More ponies waved and cheered as he flew back to Sweet Apple Acres, making the halfa's cheeks glow with a green hue.

It didn't take long for him to reach the Acres, where he flew into the barn to transform back into StarShine Apple.

Another day, another ghost attack, another easy fight. Too easy. Star looked down as he thought about everything that happened since Discord. He was getting stronger, faster, and was more high alert. All because of that… _thing._

The stallion shuddered at the thought of what he became that day, what he did, and how he swore to never become that thing again. "Not going to think about _him_ anymore, I'm just going to have a nice dinner with my family, and go to bed." With a deep breath, Star walked out of the barn and into the house.

On the mountain above Canterlot, Prince Blueblood sat alone at his country estate.

"Meow." Well, almost alone. His cat, Galatea, jumped onto the sofa he was sitting on, brushing up against his side.

"Ah, Galatea, while I'm thankful for the comfort, it's still not enough." Blueblood stood and walked over to the window. Through the window, he could see the city of Canterlot in the distance as the moon rises over the horizon. "I was humiliated at the Gala and my plans were once again foiled. All because of that Star Phantom." He growled. "I need a way to get rid of him, but how?"

Galatea got up from her seat, heading over to the newspaper. Blueblood watched with interest as his cat grabbed the paper, and began scratching away some of the papers. The dark halfa sighed as he picked her up with his magic.

"Galatea, while I hate the news as much as you, this is not…" he stared down at the shredded paper, an eyebrow raised. Certain words were displayed on the torn paper: Bounty, Rewarded, Phantom. Then he got an idea, a nasty idea.

"Galatea, you are a genius!" He placed the cat gently on the ground, summoned quill and paper, and began to write. "Star Phantom, your days are numbered."

Morning came again to Ponyville, and the Apple Family was hard at work in the orchard. The three siblings brought buckets of apples to the barn while Apple Bloom loaded then onto the cart. Star gave the youngest Apple the last bucket before sluggishly moving around toward the front. AppleBloom took notice, and jumped down from the cart to join him.

"Star, are ya okay?" She asked sweetly. Star sighed as he hooked himself up to the harness.

"I'm fine, AB." He said stoically. AppleBloom gave him a look that stated just how much she didn't believe him. "Really, I am." An eyebrow was raised. Star shuddered. "We'll talk later." The halfa said quickly as he pulled the cart out of the barn and down the road.

"I swear, that filly is becoming more like AJ everyday." He made his way to Ponyville, unaware of the mailmare flying frantically through the town, knocking on each pony's door.

*Knock Knock KnockKnockKnockKnock*

Twilight yanked her door open, feeling so much relief when the knocking finally ended. With a deep breath, she composed herself to greet "Ditzy?"

"Twilight, I have terrible news!" Twilight had to resist a groan. If Ditzy managed to destroy _another_ sign during her morning runs, she was going to scream. "There was a bounty placed on Star Phantom!"

"What?!" A bounty?! But how? Why? And most importantly, who? A large poster was presented to the purple unicorn, who used her magic to take it.

"I have to warn the rest of the town, Bounty Hunters are already on their way!" With that, the mare flew off, surprisingly missing everything in her path. Twilight stared at the poster.

**WANTED**

**Dead or Destroyed**

**Star Phantom**

**Bounty: 1,000,000Bs**

**Warning: Subject is a known spirit and is a fierce fighter. All precautions must be taken to ensure success. **

**Bounty has been placed by Blau Sango**

Why? Why?! WHY?! It was hard enough for Twilight and the Huntress to capture the phantom on their own, now she had to compete with Celestia knows how many hunters. She had to alert Rainbow. She slammed her door closed, locked it, and teleported to Rainbow's House.

Star sat calmly at the Apple Cart, continuing on with his business as usual. It was quiet, but the halfa was welcoming that at this point. He could think about some new fighting techniques, or new ways of using his powers to make the fights easier. Maybe he could ask Doc to make some new tools for the others.

Vinyl and Octavia expressed an interest in helping with his fights. If this were a few weeks ago, Star would be dead set against it. But now he was actually considering it. AJ and Big Mac were helping more, and he saw how great it worked out. They gained experience, and were able to cover for him when he had to make deliveries outside of town. Having a couple of extra members, one of them being a unicorn, would be great.

It would be easy to train them, being a ghost that could take a hit certainly helped.

"Star!" Came a voice. The white stallion looked up to see Doctor Whooves running toward him, a large rolled up poster clinging to his saddle bag. The brown earth pony came to a quick stop as he approached the cart. He took a few deep breaths before pulling out the poster.

"You need to see this." He rolled the poster out across the counter, revealing the Wanted Poster for Him!

Star's eyes widened as he read the contents of the poster, his breath quickening. He looked at the name of the pony who posted the bounty, and glared. "BlueBlood."

The Doc raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you can read that name?"

Star's anger turned to confusion. 'You can't?" Whooves shook his head.

"No, Star, this is Esperanto. It's a dead language. No pony has spoken it in thousands of years." Star thought for a moment, then shrugged. He could dwell on that revelation later; right now, he had bigger trees to buck.

"Anyway, why would BlueBlood post a bounty on me?"

"Yes, why indeed, and how is he able to write esperanto? It's impossible to learn unless you're an archeologist, and I doubt the Prince took time out of his life to try and learn."

"Oh right, we never told you." Star said, rolling his eyes a little at how they never explained it. So he did, he told the Doc through whispers about BlueBlood, and his halfa status. To say the scientist was speechless was an understatement.

"So… the Prince is a halfa, and he's just put out a bounty on your head." The two were silent again until the Doc had an idea. "I could get the others-"

"No." Star rebuttals sternly. "I'm not involving them in something like this."

"But they could help you, Star."

"Low level ghosts, sure. Dangerous ghosts I need help with, fine. But experienced bounty hunters, no, not gonna happen!" The halfa noticed his friend flinch and took a deep breath to calm down.

"Just give everypony a heads up, and see if we can find a way to get rid of the bounty. Until then, I stay low. Alright?" Dr. Whooves nodded, and ran off to warn the others, leaving Star alone to think of a way to deal with this.

"Awe sweet, one million bits!" Rainbow cheered as she read the wanted poster. Twilight angrily ripped it from her hooves with magic, and threw onto a table. The two were in the basement, with Rainbow wearing her Huntress outfit.

"This is serious, Rainbow. Blau Sango doesn't trust us anymore to get the job done, now he's hiring bounty hunters to do it!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "But… isn't it a good thing other hunters are showing up? Cause he's hard to catch on our own."

"Bounty hunters don't care about science. We need to to capture him so that we can understand how he functions, if we do, then we can figure out how to stop ghosts for good!" The unicorn trotted over to the container holding the Dragon Amulet. It shone brightly within the magical glass surrounding it.

"The Amulet only has so much energy, barely enough to power our equipment, and now we're racing against crazed hunters who only care for the bits!" Rainbow flew over and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Easy there, egghead. We got this. I'm faster than any old bounty hunter, and you're way~ smarter than a whole army of hunters. So let's get to it!" Twilight smiled and took a calming breath.

"Okay, let's do it." She used her magic to summon a map of Ponyville, several of its locations were marked on the map. "Patrol these spots, it's where Phantom has been sighted the most." Rainbow saluted, placed her mask over her head, and flew out the door on her hoverboard. "And be careful of the phans!" Twilight called out as the Huntress flew out of sight.

On the main road heading to Ponyville, a massive earth pony marched with a purpose. His body was covered in leather, a spiked stetson rested on his head, and his eyes were blocked out by shades. As he approached the town, he lifted the bandana from his snout to sniff the air.

"Hmm." The bounty hunter hummed, then smiled as he lowered the cloth over his face. "Well, this should be interesting."

Flying down from Canterlot on jetpacks were Agents M and A. They held their massive ecto-rifles and a small tracker in magic and hoof. As they approached Ponyville, the tracker beeped to life, grabbing M's attention.

"Ecto-signature located, moving to intercept."

"Understood." The two banked down, diving toward the center of town.

Two pegasi flew at top speed toward Ponyville, dodging the Everfree creatures with ease.

"Radical!" The first one, with aquamarine fur, shouted.

"Totally dude!" The other, a dark blue furred one, agreed. The first one frowned.

"I'm a mare, dude!"

The stallion blinked. "Oh yeah." They landed on the edge of the forest, hoof bumping each other before walking into town.

A group of ponies and their dog got off the train from Fillydelphia. The group consisted of two stallions and two mares.

The hunky stallion looked around. "Alright, gang, let's split up and look for clues."

The other stallion, who was much skinnier, sighed. "Like we just got off the train, man. Can't we, like, go get something to eat first."

"Reah." The dog agreed, licking his lips. The lead pony sighed.

"Alright, fine. Let's grab some hayburgers, then split up to search for clues." The skinny stallion and dog high-hooved before running off toward the nearest Hayburger joint.

Star sighed as he pulled the cart into the barn. It had been a long day, and ponies from all over the country were arriving to get a chance at the reward money. Thankfully, their equipment hadn't been able to scan him, and it certainly helped that they were all idiots.

AJ watched him pull in, and sighed. She then turned to AppleBloom and Big Mac. "Star should not be dealin' with this, right now." The Apple siblings nodded in agreement. "Ah'll take over the cart tomorrow. Keep Star away from town until the hunters go away."

"The Doc is givin' Octavia and Vinyl their gear tomorrow, too. Se we got extra eyes on town." Big Mac added.

"Plus, Cheerilee doesn't want us out and about with the hunters around, so ah got the day off tomorrow." AB said cheerfully. "Ah can hang with Star all day tomorrow." AppleJack nodded.

"Alright, so the plan's all set." The three hoof bumped as Star came in the door. They smiled suspiciously at him, but he seemed too tired to notice. The Apple Family watched as their busiest member ignored dinner, and go straight to bed.

AJ's frown deepened as she watched her twin become more depressed with each passing day. It all started with Discord. Star wouldn't tell them what happened, but whatever it was clearly affected him in the worst way possible. Could Discord have done something to him, like he did to her and her friends? If so, what did he do? What did he see? AppleJack intended to find out, but first, she had to deal with the hunters.

The next day, Star Apple worked the orchard, bucking apple trees along the south field, the one furthest from town. AppleBloom was helping out by carrying the buckets toward a pile nearby. Star sighed as he finished bucking another tree. He thought hard about why AppleJack suddenly wanted to take the cart to the market, and he didn't have to think long as he quickly realized what was happening. His family was keeping him away from the hunters.

_They don't trust you._ He said. Star growled back. "That's not true."

_They don't think you're strong enough to take them on, and they're right. I can make you stronger. _He continued. "No, you're keeping quiet."

"Star?" The halfa blinked as his little sister walked up to him, concerned. "Are ya okay? Yer talkin' to yourself." Star couldn't help smiling, even when AB was trying to help, she was blunt, just like AppleJack.

He sighed as he kneeled down to her level. "Honestly, I've had better days." The little filly immediately pulled her older brother into a back breaking hug, but Star returned it in kind. The halfa felt tears slowly slipping through the dam he built up over the years. He needed a hug more than anything. After Discord, and the hunters, and him, Star needed this.

As the hug broke, Star had an idea. "Why don't we take a break, and take a flight." AppleBloom didn't seem so sure.

"But what about the hunters?"

"We're in the South Field, they can't see us here from town." He transformed into Star Phantom, and offered a hoof to his sister. She thought for a moment before happily rushing passing the hoof and jumping onto his back. Star smiled before taking off into the air, AppleBloom cheering loudly as he did so.

At the same time, the Huntress was patrolling the field of Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight's map revealed that this was where Phantom was seen the most, and she intended to catch him off guard. Her tracker suddenly bleeped as an ecto-signature appeared. She looked at it as it revealed the signature was rapidly approaching her.

She readied her blaster as her target approached, then turned left, then right, then back a bit. What? Was Phantom messing with her? Why was he going in random directions?

A shrill scream filled her ears as her target came into range. Phantom was flying erratically with a filly on his back, and not just any filly. It was AppleBloom! That was it, time for this punk to go down!

The Huntress charged forward, her weapon hot and ready as she aimed at the ghost stallion.

Star and Bloom laughed as he stopped to take a break. AppleBloom held her brother tightly. "One more time, please?"

Star gave a nod, and was about to fly around one more time, when a flash of light caught his attention. Instinct took over, and he dove to avoid the ecto-blast that whizzed by. He turned toward the blast's origin point to see the Huntress coming toward him. He quickly landed on the ground, allowing AppleBloom to jump off his back.

"AB, head for the barn!"

"But-"

"Now!" Star pushed the filly away from the second blast that came their way. However, he was unable to avoid it, and received a nasty burn on his back. He screamed in pain before taking off again toward the forest. The Huntress took pursuit, gliding through the air on her hoverboard. Star swayed from side to side to avoid the blasts. He saw the blasts hit the trees and ground, leaving burns and craters in their wake.

Star had to get away from the Acres or she could do more damage than the family could handle. He turned to face the Huntress, who readied another blast. The halfa shot past her, nearly knocking her off the board. She managed to use her wings to keep balance, and swiftly turned to follow.

AppleBloom ran down the busy street toward the market area, where she could see AppleJack, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch talking. The earth pony and the unicorn were carrying ghost hunting weapons, making the filly stop in her tracks. Unfortunately, AJ spotted her, and waved her over.

"AppleBloom, what are ya doin' here?" AppleBloom took some moments to breathe, and look at the two hunters sitting at the stand. AJ followed her gaze, and nearly facehoofed.

"It's fine, Bloom, they're Phantom's friends." She whispered.

"Star's in trouble!" AB immediately hissed into her sister's ears. AppleJack shot up and ran back to the stand. With a kick, she opened the secret compartment in the cart and pulled out her ecto-lasso. She then turned back to AppleBloom.

"Who?"

"The Huntress, she's at the Acres!" AJ growled, then looked to the two mares readying their weapons.

"Let's go, we gotta stop her!" A loud blast drew their attention. One of the buildings near town hall was smoking as a massive scorch mark formed on the wall from the blast. The ponies ran for cover as Star Phantom flew into view with the Huntress on his tail.

Star ducked to avoid another blast. "Can't I catch a break?!" Another blast across his front told him no. He turned to see Agents M and A aiming their blasters at him. He dove to avoid the crossfire from the three hunters. The blasts missed and instead impacted several buildings destroying chunks of the structures. Citizens dove for new cover as their old cover was burned away by ecto-energy.

As Star flew low to the ground, two pegasi flanked him. He watched as the two readied ecto-nets.

"Ready, dude?" The mare asked.

"Totally, brah." The stallion responded. The mare glared.

"I'm a mare, brah!"

"Oh yeah." They readied the nets, but Star simply stopped. The two extreme pegasi flew on, until their nets caught onto a pole. They swiveled around several times until the nets length shrunk, and they slammed head on into each other.

Star swerved to the right to avoid the blasts from the airborne hunters. He flew straight into the nearby Hayburgers, where the Mystery Gang was eating. They all stared at the Halfa as he landed inside the joint. A few seconds later, the skinny stallion and his dog screamed before the dog jumped into the hooves of the stallion. Star raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh, hi?"

"Like, zoinks!" The stallion ran off with the dog still in his hooves. The four remaining ponies watch in both confusion and shame as the two ran into the kitchen, knocking employees out of the way as they did.

"Uh, do they do that oft-"

"Yes!" The three ponies answered in annoyance.

"O~kay then, bye." Star turned to leave, but a wall of blasters blocked his way. The Huntress, Agents M and A, the Extreme Pegasi, and a fourth hunter had all of their blasters aimed at the halfa, who raised his hooves in surrender, then smirked and disappeared. The hunters' eyes widened before they turned to their trackers. But there was a problem with that.

"He's gone!" The trackers could not find an ecto-signature. The group of hunters ran out of the Hayburgers, spreading out through the town in an attempt to find the elusive Phantom.

They never realized that he was still in the Hayburgers. He never moved. Once he was visible again, Star flew off back toward the Acres before the hunters could find him again. He wasn't aware of the stallion that watched him leave.

The hunters turned the whole town upside down. Blasting away at anything they thought was a ghost, which was everything. Market carts were destroyed, buildings had their windows blown out, and almost every surface in Ponyville was scorched.

The Huntress flew around the town, glaring at everything. This was all Phantom's fault. If he just let himself be caught, none of this would happen. The pegasus sighed as she saw the sun setting over the horizon; it was time to call it quits. So she flew back toward the meeting point, where she knew an angry Twilight Sparkle would be waiting. She did her best to ignore the glares from the towns ponies as she flew by.

Star landed at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, tired and anxious. That was too close, and now the Huntress knew where he hid most of the time. It wouldn't take long for her to find him again, so he readied himself to transform.

An ecto-blast made sure he wouldn't. Star dropped to the ground when the blast slammed into his back. The pain was unbearable, his back felt like it was on fire, and he suddenly felt nauseous. He tried to get up, but his body refused to move. A dark laugh hovered over him, along with the shadow of the hunter who fired his blaster.

"Don't like that too much, do ya?" Star glared at the hunter, who pulled out a blood red flower from a pocket in his leather jacket. "Blood Blossoms, courtesy of Blue Blood." The halfa's eyes widened. He could feel his blood boil. His whole body was on fire. His heart was racing, and the core in his chest was crying out for help.

_Let me out! _He cried. _Let me out so I can kill him and BlueBlood! _

"He taught me how to mix ecto-energy with the flower's pollen, and I must say, it works like a charm. I get to capture you alive, and you get to writhe in agony as I take you to collect." Star watched the hunter throw the flower next to him, and screamed as the burning increased tenfold. The hunter just laughed louder.

"I love this job!"

_Let me out! I can fight!_

"You're coming with me, fool." Star tried to move again as the hunter reached down to grab him. An ecto-rope flew through the air, wrapping itself around the stallion. The hunter looked over to see AppleJack tugging on the rope. He screamed as he was dragged over to the group of mares pointing blasters at him. He didn't feel so tough now.

"So, about attacking Phantom." The orange mare growled. "Here's your new plan." At the same time, Big Mac ran over to Star, picked him up and took him to the house. "Yur gonna leave him alone, and never come back."

The hunter's eyes narrowed. "Not likely." With a roar, he ripped through the rope. Before Octavia and Vinyl could fire, he jumped up and knocked the blasters away. He reached for his blaster, and aimed. The three mares dove behind the trees as the hunter opened fire, the energy bolts blood red from the blossom pollen.

Big Mac gently placed Star on the table. His younger brother continued to writhe in pain. The stallion could only was as his brother suffered in front of him, and his sister was fighting for her life behind her. He didn't know what to do.

_Typical, Big Macintosh. Typical. _

Star screamed in agony as the blossom worked its way through his bloodstream. Big Mac did his best to him still, but a halfa in pain is a lot stronger than a big stallion like him. He was knocked back away by a flailing leg to his chest.

"Big Mac." An elderly voice called out. The red stallion turned to see Granny Smith. The elderly mare walked up Star, and began gently rubbing her hoof along his chest. Big Mac watched in amazement as his brother began to calm down, but it was obvious he was still in great pain.

"Go git Zecora." Granny ordered, never taking her eyes off her hurting grandson. "Ah'll keep Star calm." Big Mac stood there, shocked. Granny Smith sighed. "Ah've known fur a while, now git!" That made the big stallion move. He ran from the house and down the road of the Everfree. His ecto-gauntlets charged up with energy should he run into any wolves.

Granny continued to do what she could to keep him calm, but there wasn't much she could do to keep the pain at bay.

"Let me out." Star muttered. "Let me out and I can fight." Granny leaned in.

"Ya don't need tah fight, Star." She whispered. "Yur family is gonna take care of it. Y'all can rest fur once."

AppleJack jumped clear from the blast that destroyed her cover. She tried to aim her blaster, but the hunter was quicker to the draw, forcing her to dodge once more. Octavia attempted a shot, but the hunter shimmied left to avoid it. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the unicorn preparing another weapon. He turned just in time to see Vinyl readying her bazooka.

"Boom Baby!" She shouted as she pulled the trigger. A massive ecto-blast launched from the bazooka, sailing right for the hunter. His eyes widened before he dove for cover. The energy flew past him, scorching the fur on his back.

With a growl, the hunter aimed his blaster at the unicorn. A smaller blast knocked the weapon from his hoof. He turned to see a mint colored unicorn holding a sleek, scoped blaster in her magic. Her glare could be seen through the scope.

"Next one's going between your eyes, pal." Three sets of hooves filled his vision, followed by the glow of ecto-blasters. AppleJack stepped up.

"Last chance. Leave mah farm and mah family alone." The hunter lowered his gaze before nodding. "And be sure tah let yur hunter friends know that the bounty is null and void." The stallion got up and began walking away from the farm, a blast from the ecto-rifle made his move a bit faster.

The four mares watched him go back to Ponyville, where the Night Guards were waiting to arrest any hunters still in town.

Twilight walked into the center of town, where an entire army of Night Guards were making arrests. The ghost hunters were thrown into the back of the prison carts before being dragged off to Canterlot. The unicorn marched past the guards, marching up to one of the officers.

"Who's in charge here?" She demanded.

"That would be me, Twilight Sparkle." The student of Celestia turned around, shocked to see Princess Luna walking up to her.

"P-princess Luna, what's going on?"

"I'm arresting the hunters, Miss Sparkle." The alicorn said, stating the obvious.

"But why?"

"The bounty was declared by me as a deliberate target on a citizen of Equestria, by a pony who is not registered on any legal document. Therefore, this is an illegal posting, and all those involved will be taken to Canterlot for questioning."

Twilight was confused. What bounty? She couldn't mean Phantom, could she? He wasn't a citizen, he was a ghost! They were monsters that needed to be stopped. She wanted to speak out against her, but didn't think it would be smart. Luna was obviously not in the mood to talk.

"Now if you excuse me, Twilight Sparkle." The Princess said, pulling her from her musings. "I must go. I have a friend to visit." Before Twilight could ask, Luna and two guards took off into the air, leaving the rest of the guard to finish their arrest. A few of the townsponies cheered as the destructive hunters were taken away, happy that their town and its protector are safe once more.

But Twilight couldn't cheer. Her mind was running rampant with conspiracies about Luna and Phantom. She did this to defend him, which meant the two knew each other. She called him a friend, so they met often. But how often, and what do they meet for? She had to investigate. But she's a Princess of Equestria. To investigate a princess required an order from another princess, and there was only one princess who could give her that authority.

Princess Celestia. She had a letter to write.

When Princess Luna arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, the scene before her was devastating. Trees were destroyed, crops were scorched, and screams could be heard from inside the house. The alicorn and her guards rushed towards the building, slamming through the door to find Star Phantom surrounded by his family and friends. Granny Smith did his best to keep the halfa calm while Zecora rubbed a cream all over his body. No pony noticed her until she was next to the table, at Star's side.

None of them bowed, as she was a friend to them and friends do not bow when alone. Zecora finished applying the ointment, and sighed.

"The remedy should extract the blossom, true, but the pain he will still have to suffer through." Star's pain filled scream proved her point. Luna held Star's hoof in a vain attempt to hold him steady. With a glare, she turned to one of her guards, a familiar thestral mare.

"Sergeant Shadow Swirl, was the hunter responsible for this arrested?"

The mare nodded. "Yes ma'am. Squad Three grabbed him as soon as he entered town."

"Good, then prepare a detail to scour all flower shops. If you find blood blossoms, I want them removed from the shelves."

"Roseluck has a whole section of them in her shop." Lyra Heartstrings said, gaining the Princess' attention. "She buys them from Canterlot Premium Flowers. It's the only shop in Equestria that sells them." Luna nodded in thanks, and Shadow Swirl went off to perform her task.

With that business done, she could focus on being there for her friend. His screams wouldn't die down for several hours.

BlueBlood sighed. He made a mistake. He never thought to include Phantom's allies into the equation. Now he was paying the price. Blau Sango could no longer be used in public, as he was not registered on any legal documents. Damn that Luna and her eye for detail.

Oh well, he would just have to be satisfied with the fact that Star has been introduced to the "joy" of Blood Blossoms.

Celestia read the letter from Twilight Sparkle. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. She needed to know this wasn't real. She couldn't believe what her student was insinuating. Her sister, being friends with that spirit. The one who has caused chaos, the one who attacked her, the one who nearly ruined the Gala. She refuses to believe it, and she was going to make sure her student understood that.

"My Dear Student Twilight Sparkle…"


	3. Chapter 3 The Cutie Pox

AppleBloom stood confidently in front of her two best friends and fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Today's the day, girls. Ah can just feel it." she turned to face them. "Today, we earn our Cutie Marks in…" Pause for dramatic effect.

"Bowlin'!" She presented a hoof to the local bowling alley, where ponies were gathering for fun and relaxation.

"Woohoo!" Scootaloo shouted as she floated in the air for a second.

"Wmmm." Sweetie Belle mumbled as she had a bowling bag in her mouth, which she promptly spat out before shouting "I mean, yay!"

"Why, after today, we won't even be the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore, we'll be the uh… the Three Strikes!" Scootaloo frowned at the name.

"That makes it sound like we struck out." And like bowling pins, the idea was knocked aside. AppleBloom thought for a moment.

"Then how about… the Pin Twins." Now Sweetie Belle frowned.

"But there are three of us." Another idea struck out.

"Then how about… the Bowling Dolls!"

All three fillies grinned. "The Bowling Dolls, that's it!"

"Perfect!"

AppleBloom turned to the bowling alley entrance. "Okay then, let's bowl them over!" The filly declared, taking a lesson from her half ghost brother's pun book. The three ran inside, unaware of the Saddle Arabian looking mare watching them from afar.

**Star Phantom in:**

**The Cutie Pox**

**Ring Around the Rosies, A Cutie Pox for Ponies**

The bowling alley was full today, as dozens of ponies were either having fun or competing in tournaments. Every lane was taken, which included the one being used by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweetie Belle was up first, as she gently rolled her ball forward, using her head to do it. She watched as the ball rolled down the lane, banking right into one of the gutters, completely missing the pins.

She blinked, then smiled at her two friends as if she just won a race. Scootaloo and AppleBloom gave fake grins before looking at each other in confusion. Next was Scootaloo's turn, who decided to buck the ball as hard as she could.

The heavy ball went flying into the air, slamming into walls, other lanes, and almost hit the face of a bowling pony. All eyes turned to the pegasus, drawing attention away from the little colt a few lanes away.

The young colt sighed as he looked at his score. With only four pins knocked down, on the fifth round, he was losing big time. His family was all about the bowling sport, so to not be a great bowler is not something they accept.

The colt sighed. "I just wish I was good at bowling, great even." He muttered before going up to grab his ball. A soft mist hovered over him.

"_So you have wished it, so shall it be." _A sultry voice echoed before the colt glowed a toxic green. The pony felt a sudden boost of strength and confidence. Where it came from, he didn't know and he didn't care. With a grin and a glow of his eyes, he launched the ball down the lane.

AppleBloom took the ball in her mouth. It tasted disgusting, but the idea might work. She ran forward and spit the ball out, sending it rolling down the lane. There was the sound of pins being knocked over and the crowd of ponies in awe.

"Look, a bowling Cutie Mark." AppleBloom shot up as she heard that.

"Ah… ah did!" She cried. "Ah finally-!" The filly cut herself off as she stared at her still blank flank. Her attention then turned to the crowd of ponies praising a young colt for getting his bowling Cutie Mark. No pony noticed the soft glow that surrounded him.

AppleBloom frowned. "But, ah don't get it. Where's mah ball?" She turned to her lane to see her bowl slowly rolling toward the pins. It crawled over to the set of pins, taping them before stopping. Not a single pin fell over. The apple filly growled before angrily stomping away, her two friends watching her go with worry on their faces.

A third pair of eyes watched with glee as the young pony angrily marched from the bowling alley. A laugh of satisfaction echoed out.

"_Only a matter of time." _

AppleBloom was beyond angry. This was their fiftieth attempt at getting a Cutie Mark, and she still messed it up. What was her destiny supposed to be? Why did she have to be one of the only ponies in town without a Mark? That colt from the bowling alley was _younger _than her, and yet he got his Cutie Mark just like that. She was hoping to surprise Star today with a Cutie Mark, hoping the happy occasion would make him feel better.

The halfa was still sick in bed after the bounty hunter injected him with Blood Blossoms, and while the pain has died down, his body was still recovering. Zecora helped out however she could, but potions could only do so much.

"Come on AppleBloom, it's just a Cutie Mark!" Scootaloo called out.

"Yeah, we'll find something else to do!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Like what?" The pegasus muttered, earning an elbow bump from her unicorn friend. AppleBloom sighed as she heard them. To them, this was just a Cutie Mark, but to AppleBloom, it was for something more.

"Beware!" An annoying voice called out. The Box Ghost appeared before them. "For I, the Box Ghost, will take over this town with my power over the cardboard!" The annoying ghost laughed before an ecto-blast knocked him down. All three heads turned to see Octavia standing there with her ecto-blaster in hoof.

She ran up to the three fillies and stood between them and the Box Ghost. "Run along now, little ones. Octavia will take care of this." She grabbed the thermos and sucked the Box Ghost inside. The ghost screamed out his revenge before the lid sealed him in. Octavia didn't say a word as she ran back to the Acres to drop him off.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched in awe, while AppleBloom just rolled her eyes and continued walking. Since Star was out, the others took turns watching over the town. Today was Tuesday, Octavia's turn.

A part of her wanted to join them, grab a blaster and fight. But AJ, Big Mac, and even Star said she was too young. She had hoped getting her Cutie Mark would change their minds.

"AppleBloom, wait. I know what will cheer you up!" Sweetie Belle declared.

A cupcake was thrown in front of the grumpy filly. "A treat from SugarCube Corner." AppleBloom pushed the treat away.

"No it won't." The young mare jumped down from her seat and walked away, leaving her two friends behind. The mist continued to follow up above, away from the eyes of the towns ponies.

AppleBloom made her way back to Sweet Apple Acres, where AppleJack and Big Mac were busy working the orchards, bucking trees and collecting apples. She walked inside to see Granny helping Zecora with ingredients for Star's medicine. Neither the older mare or the zebra noticed her head upstairs.

She sneaked up the stairs and made her way to Star's bedroom. It was the third door down from the hall, in between her and Applejack's rooms. His door was marked with bright white and dark black stars in a strange arrangement.

AppleBloom raised a hoof to knock, but stopped herself. She really thought about what she wanted to do. She was upset that she didn't get a Cutie Mark, something she had grown accustomed to since she founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but Star was the one sick and in pain because of hunters. What right does she have to complain about anything to him? With a sigh, she lowered her hoof and trotted sadly into her room, slamming the door behind her.

The little filly jumped onto her bed, landing face first into her pillow. She groaned into the fluffy object before looking outside her window. The sun was going down, meaning she wasted wasted a whole day crusading… again.

With a sigh, she turned around and stared at her ceiling. "Ah wonder if ah could just wish for a Cutie Mark." She scoffed. "Not likely." The young pony decided to call it a night, she didn't feel like having dinner tonight. As AppleBloom closed her eyes, the mist manifested into Desiree the Wishing Ghost.

"Well… she did say 'wish'." She said deviously. With a flick of her ghostly hoof, the sleeping form of AppleBloom glowed a toxic green and a flash on her rump appeared. The wishing ghost didn't stay to see what it was, as she didn't want to risk attracting Star Phantom to her presence. She wanted her revenge to be perfect.

The morning call of the rooster woke AppleBloom up with a start. The little filly practically launched from the bed, running through her door and down the stairs. She almost fell down the steps (again) as she ran down them into the kitchen, where the rest of her family was sitting down having breakfast. Well, almost all of her family were at the table.

She could see AppleJack readying an extra plate as Granny Smith prepared the potion that Zecora had left them.

"This should be the last of it." The old mare said with hope. "After this, Star should be right as rain."

"Ah hope so." AJ said as she turned. The orange mare stopped in her tracks, nearly dropping the plate in surprise. AppleBloom was confused. Was something wrong? Was her bow still attached to her head and messed up in her sleep (again)? She noticed that Big Mac and Granny Smith were all staring at her in shock. What was it? What was wrong? She had to ask.

"What?" Okay, could've asked a better question.

"A-AppleBloom, when?" AJ asked as she stepped forward, plate in hoof.

"When… what?"

"When did y'all get yur Cutie Mark?"

What?! Not funny! She didn't get her Mark, that's why she was upset last night! Was this AJ's way of joking around? The little filly turned to look at her rump, and there it was. Oh, she wasn't kidding.

But how?! When?! Where?! Why?! And possibly, Who?!

"Uh, I mustn't 'ave noticed." Smooth~

"Not noticing ya got yer Cutie Mark?" Granny asked suspiciously. AppleBloom gulped. "Well, golly! We gotta celebrate! AppleJack, give that plate and this potion tah yer brother, then help me bake an Apple Cake!" AJ nodded with a smile, placing the potion on the plate before running upstairs. AppleBloom watched her go up, shock still evident on her face. She did it, she got her Cutie Mark, she didn't know how, and frankly, she didn't care. She finally got her Cutie Mark in…

What was her Cutie Mark for anyway. She took a closer look at the mark on her rump. It looked like a silver ring. What? She didn't know what that was! Was her Cutie Mark for ring making?

"Well now." AppleJack said as she came back down the stairs. "Yur talent is balancing plates, eh?" The mare elbowed her younger sister, who grinned sheepishly. "Looks like Star won the betting pool."

"Betting pool?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac answered. "We all bet on what kinda Cutie Mark ya'd get. Star made a bet that it wouldn't be something Apple related."

AppleBloom wasn't sure was happy that Star had faith she'd do something outside the farm, or offended that she'd get something outside of her family lineage. Oh well, guess he was right. Good thing he wasn't here to boast about it.

"Ah'll let him know after he wakes up." AJ said, then grumbled. "Now I'm out 50 bits and a chance tah see him in drag."

Okay… AppleBloom did not need that image in her head. Wait a minute. "Star is wakin' up?!"

"Eeyup, just one more drink of Zecora's potion and he'll be alright. The last Blood Blossom juice was extracted last night. This is just to double check." AppleBloom couldn't believe it. Her half ghost brother was waking up and now she had a Cutie Mark to show him when he did. He's going to be so happy when he sees it!

Granny turned to face the clock. "Oh geez. Sorry AppleBloom, ya gotta git goin', don't wanna be late for school." Oh come on!

"Can't ah stay home, ah wanna be there when Star gets up." She said sadly.

"Sorry, sweetie. Star ain't gonna wake up for a few hours, he should be awake after you get home." AppleBloom looked sadly at the floor. "Besides, don't ya wanna show it off to yer friends?" That's right, she had to show Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, they were going to be so excited! With a wide smile, the little filly grabbed her saddlebags and ran out the door and down the road towards town.

All three Apples watched her go with proud smiles. "Our little AppleBloom is all grown up." AJ said.

"E-Eeyup." Big Mac agreed, trying to hold back the tears. Granny simply nodded. Once the youngest member of their family was out of sight, she turned to face them.

"Ah'll keep an eye on Star, y'all gather some apples til lunch. After that, Big Mac will take over and AJ can help me with the cake." The two siblings nodded before heading off into the field. Granny watched them go before heading back into the house and up the stairs toward Star's room. None of them saw the mist floating above, nor did they hear her dark laughter.

"_All too easy." _Desiree silently flew into Star's room just before Granny could close the door. She stared at the unconscious form of Star Phantom on the bed, in his Star Apple form. Perfect, now all she had to do was keep him like that for one more day. She watched as Granny Smith readied the potion for consumption. That gave her an idea. The older mare didn't notice the glow coming from the potion as she opened Star's mouth and poured the contents down his throat.

"_A simple sleep spell will keep him out for another day. More than enough time for the spell to take effect." _Desiree chuckled as she flew off toward town, desperately wanting to see her plan bloom.

AppleBloom had to think. No doubt her friends were going to ask what her Mark was for, and she had no idea what that was. She had to think fast before she embarrassed herself. The little filly was so caught up in her dilemma, she didn't notice the object on the road until after she tripped over it.

The young mare fell to the ground, rubbing her head to clear the apples that spun around it. When she did, she looked at the thing she had tripped over. It was a silver ring, most likely a spare part that fell from the cart when Big Mac was grabbing tools and stuff for repairing the barn. AppleBloom thought for a moment before an idea flew into her head.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were talking near the front of the school, concern evident on their faces. They hadn't seen or heard from AppleBloom since yesterday and now they were worried. Their friend was extremely upset yesterday, and they knew why. They heard that Star Apple was sick and had been bedridden for nearly a week. It must've been bad because ponies saw Zecora dropping off potions at Sweet Apple Acres. If the zebra had to come over and help, things were serious.

Gasps and awes drew their attention, as they saw AppleBloom approaching, with her Cutie Mark?! The two joined is aweing their friend as she approached them, strutting her stuff in order to draw attention to herself. It was then the two fillies saw her using her tail to casually spin a silver ring around.

"Hey girls. Check it out!"

"You got your Cutie Mark?!" Sweetie Belle asked in shock. "But how?!"

Thankfully, AppleBloom thought of an excuse on her way down. "Ah just figured ah'd try mah hoof at it last night, bored as any. Ah never realized that ah that good at balancing plates, but there it was."

"Ha!" Came an annoyingly mocking voice. All eyes fell on Diamond Tiara as she and her satellite Silver Spoon marched haughtily into the schoolyard. "So your good at what exactly, spinning rings?" She snarked, her 'friend' laughing alongside her.

"Oh please, as if that's a real talent."

"Ri~ght." AppleBloom said, rolling her eyes. "And ah suppose your talent is wearing a tiara?" That got the school ponies laughing, much to Diamond's embarrassment. She scoffed.

"Whatever, enjoy the attention while it lasts, dork." With that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked away, laughing mockingly until they were out of earshot. AppleBloom paid them no mind as her schoolmates gathered around. She youngest Apple was clearly enjoying this new found attention to herself and decided to get cocky.

"Alright, everypony. Get ready for a real show."

The earth pony then kicked her hind legs into the air, allowing the ring to fall down to her ribs before standing tall and spinning it around. She then stood tall and gyrated her hips to keep it spinning, while also spinning around herself. After that, she let the ring fall to her left hind hoof before kicking it out, sending the ring flying into the air. It flew over the flagpole, spinning around it as it went down. Before it hit the bottom, AppleBloom used her snout to send it flying back up. The ring flipped through the air until AppleBloom jumped through, catching it, and letting it spin around her midsection as she landed on the ground.

The school ponies watched in amazement, and cheered. Miss Cheerilee was the loudest of all.

"Spectacular performance AppleBloom, however. It's time for class. So if you could please put it out in the yard…"

"Just one more trick, Ms. Cheerilee, please?" She gave the puppy dog eyes, the terribly, evilly adorable puppy eyes that no loving adult could resist. Not even the teacher training could prevent Cheerilee from caving in.

"Oh alright, one more trick."

"Thanks, Miss Cheerilee. Ah call this one, the Hoopla!" With a kick, the ring was back around her tail, which she spun around at high speed. The ring and her tail became a blur, and the little filly was lifted up into the air by her tail. She got to a reasonable height when there was a sudden flash. AppleBloom looked at saw that she had gotten a second Cutie Mark.

"W-what?!" The shock of the event forced her to stop spinning, leaving her with no way of staying in the air. She fell with a thud, giving everypony a good look at her new Cutie Mark. Gasps filled the air as the realization took hold.

"Two Cutie Marks?" "How?" "She must be faking it!" "No way, Apples are always honest!" "I knew her family was involved in spiritual activities!"

AppleBloom shied away, suddenly not liking the attention that has been put upon her. Miss Cheerilee decided to fix that.

"My goodness, AppleBloom. You did what has never been accomplished before!" All questions and conspiracies ceased. "You managed to acquire two Cutie Marks! Amazing!" AppleBloom caught the wink and smiled. Now the conversations turned to ones of amazement and cheery. This attention, AppleBloom liked.

"I have a feeling that no pony will be paying much attention in class today." Cheerilee continued. "So, in honor of this special pop occasion, I'm cancelling class today, so that AppleBloom may present her amazing feat to the rest of Ponyville."

AppleBloom smiled and stood to be praised by her classmates. She looked at her Cutie Mark, thankfully, this one was easy to decipher. Two plates being balanced on sticks was much more obvious than a ring.

Ponies gathered around, watching as AppleBloom showed off the talents her two Cutie Marks claimed she had. She spun around two plates on her shout as her tail continued to loop the ring around. Ponies both young and old cheered as the Apple filly performed spectacular moves.

Her family watched with pride as she did so, making the youngest member tear up. She only wished Star was able to see this.

From above the crowd, Desiree watched with glee. Her plan was working, and her enemy was still blissfully sleeping away. By tomorrow, the filly was going to become Patient Zero.

The moon rose above the orchard, officially ending the eventful day. An exhausted AppleBloom stepped inside the house, with a proud AppleJack and Big Mac walking in front of her.

"Yeehaw, lil' sis. Congratulations on not gettin' just one, but two Cutie Marks!"

"Eeyup!"

"What's all this then?!" Granny Smith called as she came down the stairs. "What's this 'bout lil' Bloom gettin' two Cutie Marks?!" The elderly pony looked down at the filly's rump, then beamed. "Land sakes, child. Had to get two fur yerself!" She said teasingly. "Now we really gotta celebrate."

AppleBloom yawned. "Ah think ah'd rather sleep first. Maybe tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure thing, AppleBloom. Y'all git some rest, now." Granny said as she let the filly go up to her room. Once she heard the door close, she frowned. AppleJack and Big Mac noticed.

"Star still hasn't woken up." She said solemnly. "Ah just… don't know. Zecora is gonna try another remedy but… ah just don't know." The two siblings wrapped their hooves around her, holding each other close.

"Don't tell AppleBloom." AJ said. "She's deserves tah enjoy her Cutie Marks. Ah'll keep an eye on Star tonight, see if he wakes up. Y'all git some sleep." Big Mac helped Granny up the stairs while AppleJack went out to the barn.

Inside was a large assortment of weapons, ranging from big to small. AppleJack grabbed her ecto-rope, a large blaster, and a thermos. Something bothered her about today. Two Cutie Marks, Star not waking up on time, and a lack of any ghosts were a sign of something coming. The orange mare hoped she was wrong, but her instincts rarely were. So she was going to guard Star for the rest of the night, as well as keep an extra eye on AppleBloom until this feeling in her gut went away, if it goes away.

She went back into the house, into Star's room, and set herself up in a chair to keep watch. Her twin was still in the bed, in the exact same position he had been in once he stopped squirming from the pain. If it wasn't for the occasional rise and fall of his chest, she could swear he was fully dead.

"Why did this have tah happen, Star?" AJ whispered, hoping for a response. "Can't ya just wake up and joke around like ya used to?" For some reason, the mare could feel herself falling asleep. Strange, she had been fully awake a moment ago.

"Ah just wish everything would get better." Was the last thing she said before her body gave in and her eyes closed.

"_Oh it will get better, for me." _Desiree chuckled darkly as she flicked her hooves.

_*TapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTap* _

What the hay was that racket?

_*TapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTap*_

Could whoever was tap dancing please stop? It was ruining her sleep. Wait, she wasn't supposed to be asleep!

AppleJack woke with a start. Her head was filled with tapping. She looked at the bed to see Star unmoving, still asleep. With a groan, she poked her head out of the door. She could see a light coming from AppleBloom's room, along with the tapping noise. "AppleBloom?" She asked softly. She got no response. AJ grabbed the blaster from the floor, along with her ecto-rope and thermos. Once she had her supplies, she quietly, but quickly made her way into the room.

"AppleBloom, are y'all alri-" As she opened the door, she saw AppleBloom tap dancing uncontrollably next to her bed. Her face was filled with exhaustion and pain. On her rump was another Cutie Mark! A pair of tapping shoes.

"Help… me." AppleBloom begged. AppleJack could only stare in horror. "Help me!" Her little sister cried. That woke AJ up. With a determined look, she threw the ecto-rope, wrapping it around the filly. With a tug, the rope tightened and dragged AppleBloom to the ground. Her hooves continued to flail around, trying to find ground from which to continue tapping.

"It's okay, AppleBloom. Ah'll help ya!" A loud beeping caught her attention. The mare looked to see her ecto-scanner going haywire. Something was in the room. She readied her blaster as dark laughter echoed in the room.

"_Oh this is simply too adorable." _

"That voice." AppleJack swore she heard it somewhere before.

"That's right, AppleJack." The country mare aimed her blaster at the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway was Desiree. "I'm back, and ready to grant more wishes than ever!" AJ wasted no time firing her blaster, however the Saddle Arabian stepped to the side. AppleJack was about to fire another when the weapon disappeared.

"Sorry about this, my dear. You really do have a lovely family, but Star Phantom ruined my wishing streak last time, and I wanted pay back."

AppleJack growled. "You stay away from mah family."

"Oh I intend to, once Star sees what a mess his meddling has caused me." Desiree grinned. "But I'll have to wait a while, that sleeping spell knocking him out hard." She sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to have my fun with you until he awakes." AJ got into a fighting pose as the genie tapped her hoof in thought.

"Maybe I should give Granny the Trots. Big Mac can catch Frog's Throat." Her eyes fell on AppleJack. "And you, you can have another brush with the Poison Joke, Apple Tiny." The ghost laughed, unaware of the sudden drop in temperature. She was, however, made aware of the low growl coming from her right. She turned to see Star Phantom standing in the hallway. His hooves glowed with ecto-energy and his sharp fangs were bare.

"Uh oh."

"You have ten seconds to leave this house before I make you." The halfa growled, his eyes tinting from green to red. Desiree was frozen. She wasn't expecting this from Phantom. His aura was different. It was darker, angry, and deadly.

"One." She couldn't move.

"Two." Why couldn't she moved, she needed to get out!

"Ten!" The halfa rushed forward, tackling the genie. With a cry, she was carried outside, leaving qa stunned AppleJack and frightened AppleBloom alone in the room. Big Mac rushed out with his large bazooka while Granny had her cane.

"What happened?!" The elderly mare called out, snapping her head in several directions. AppleJack and AppleBloom had no idea what to tell her.

Desiree was slammed into the ground, forming a large crater. She struggled to get up as Star Phantom floated over her. She couldn't help but stare into his blood red eyes.

"Ah only have one rule." He said, his voice getting deeper and his accent becoming more drawn out. "Don't. Touch. Mah family." He floated down until his face was right up to her's. "It's a simple rule. Requires no explanation. But you lot insist on breakin' it." He grabbed her, something Desiree would have normally been outraged about, but she was too scared to notice it.

"I'm done being merciful. Ah was gonna let ya off with a warnin', but now ya have tah be punished." Tears pooled in her eyes.

"Unless…" Unless? "Unless you beg."

Beg? Her? The Wishing Ghost? Never! She would sooner die again than beg. But then again, she waws going to die again if she didn't. She was about to when Star smirked. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Ah think you learned your lesson." What? She felt his hooves let her go as he stood up. Desiree stared at him, seeing a completely different being. Gone were the red eyes and fangs, gone was the dark aura. Now all that was left were his toxic green eyes and innocent, yet determined smile.

"I wish you would turn everything back to normal and that you never touch my family again." That was it? She had another chance?

"So you have wished it, so shall it be." With a flick of her hoof, there was a blinding flash. Star shielded his eyes until the bright light went away. Desiree was gone, and Star knew he would come home to a safe and happy home.

His stomach growled. "Wow, must be hungrier than I thought." Without a second thought, he flew back toward the Acres, where his family was waiting for him.


	4. Chapter 4: Phandom Rivalry

Star Phantom flew above the streets of Ponyville, on patrol for any ghosts or other trouble. Most would ask, what other trouble could there be? Everypony in Ponyville could give them a long list of the things this town has been through in the past year.

The halfa smiled as nothing popped up. "Huh, maybe I'll have a normal day afterall."

A large ecto-blast argued against that statement. The Blue Huntress appeared from behind a building, this time she carried a large bazooka instead of the usual blaster. While her face was well hidden under her mask, Star could tell she was livid. Why, he could never guess.

"Never mind, it's back to the routine." With that little quip, he took off away from the pegasus. She didn't hesitate before firing a volley at the halfa, who expertly dodged every single one. Each round slammed into the ground, leaving charred impact craters in the ground. Ponies ran for cover as the two flew over the town. Star noticed and winced. He knew how destructive the Huntress was and wanted to avoid collateral damage at all costs. Maybe he could lose her in the Everfree.

He turned toward the Everfree Forest, picking up the pace. The Huntress pushed more power into her hoverboard in an attempt to catch up.

* * *

Rainbow Dash was livid. This morning, she was just passing by the CMC Clubhouse, where she heard that a meeting was being held for fans of the coolest ponies in town.

_The rainbow maned mare flew low over the trees of Sweet Apple Acres. She wanted to see just how many ponies adored her for her awesomeness. Now, she normally didn't like to brag. (Which we all know is a blatant lie.) But she was happy to know that ponies appreciate coolness when they see it. _

_"__Attention, everypony! Attention!" That was Scootaloo's voice. She knew that the little squirt worshipped the very clouds she's slept on. If there was anypony who would be running this club, it's her. _

_"__I would like to call this meeting to order." Rainbow perched herself on the roof above the window, where she could hear the shuffling of hooves of dozens of little fillies and colts. _

_"__Thank you, as you all know. This club was created to give our appreciation to the coolest, awesomest, most daringest pony ever!" Ponies clapped their hooves while a few hollered in excitement. Rainbow couldn't help but feel touched, and highly ego'd, by the love they were giving her. _

_"__So I would like to dedicate this club to that very pony, Star Phantom!" What?! _

****Star Phantom in: ****  
****Phandom Rivalry****  
**All of these adoring Phans!**

That no good Star Phantom stole her fans! She went to tell Twilight about it, but she was more concerned about something else.

_Twilight was in full blown panic mode. She ran around her tree home, grabbing random notes and other junk, studying them as if they carried the answers to life's great mysteries. "Oh no oh no oh no, this is bad1" She declared. "If those foals are worshipping Phantom, then he may be able to warp their realities! They may start worshipping ghosts instead of thanking Celestia for her good deeds. He may lead them into rebellion against Equestria! Or…" The unicorn gulped. "They may start playing with ghosts instead of studying!" _

_Rainbow sighed. Twilight wasn't getting it. Those were her fans, and Phantom took them away! Well she wasn't going to stand for it. She was going to do something about it. While Twilight continued to ramble, RD snuck over to the lab and grabbed her Ghost Hunting Equipment. Her unicorn friend had no idea she took them until she blasted out of the house, going off to hunt that ghost freak. _

Now here she was, chasing Phantom through the town. She didn't care if her shots missed or not. She was going to hit him eventually. Star shot up into the air, she followed. He flew through clouds, she chased him in. He dove, she dove. He disappeared through a tree. She slammed right into it. With a resounding crash, she might add.

The pegasus was flung from her board, which embedded itself into another tree. She hit the dirt with a loud thud, sending her helmet flying from her head. Her vision blurred as the wind was knocked out of her. In the distance, she could see a black and white speck disappear into thin air.

Rainbow Dash growled, this wasn't over.

* * *

Star was back onto his routine. As soon as he arrived back in town, a ghost had shown up. It was easy, just another ecto-puss that managed to escape the Realm on random. It only took a couple minutes of chasing to catch it; he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"HELP!" His head shot in the direction of the scream. It was on the edge of town, towards the main road to Canterlot. He took off in that direction. He didn't notice the ponies watching him from below.

"Help!" It sounded closer, and a lot more… echoey? Star looked down. Right below him was the old well. The wooden boards that once covered it were broken. "Help, help!" Somepony was down there! From the size of the hole in the boards, it was a filly. The halfa wasted no time and dove down, smashing through the remaining cover into the darkness below. His body gave off its unnatural glow, illuminating the deep, dark pit. As he went down, he could see the outline of an earth pony filly at the bottom.

Star slowed down so as not to hit her, and soon all of her features were revealed. She was indeed an earth pony filly, with very light purple fur and a minty green mane. She was covered in dirt and some garbage the must've fallen between the cracks.

Her eyes were shut as she began to cry. Star took a deep breath before putting on his caring smile. "Hey there." The filly gasped as she opened her eyes and looked up at Phantom. "Now how did you get stuck down here?"

The filly sniffed. "I was playing near the well and I tripped." Her eyes were watering again, prompting Star to enter comforting brother mode.

"Hey, it'll be okay. I'll get you out." Star lowered himself onto the ground, and sat on his haunches with his back facing the filly. "I need you to climb on my back, and hang on tight, okay?" The filly nodded and climbed up. Once Star felt a small pair of hooves wrap around his neck, he slowly took flight. At first, the filly gasped in fright, then started giggling as she realized she was flying for the first time. Star couldn't help but smile as the filly began to laugh and cheer.

He flew through the hole and over the grass. He decided to do a loop to make the filly's ride more enjoyable before coming in for a landing. Once his hooves were on the ground, the filly jumped from his back, running toward a mare standing nearby. The mare grabbed the filly in delight.

"Oh, my sweet baby. You're alright!" Star watched the moment with a content grin on his face, only for it to disappear when he heard cheering coming from all around him. That's when he realized he was surrounded by dozens of towns ponies.

For a moment, Star was ready to take flight; months of dealing with angry mobs instilled that instinct in him. But an orange hoof on his back made him stop. He looked to see his sister, AppleJack, giving him a confident smile.

"Nice Job there, Star." Star blushed as he put together what was happening. He was being congratulated by the town, instead of chased.

"Uh, thanks, just… doing my job." He stuttered, not really sure of what to say. "It was no big deal-"

"To me it was." The filly declared as she made her way through the crowd. "You're my hero, Phantom!" This led to more cheers as Star rubbed the back of head and took off.

AppleJack watched him go before turning to Twilight Sparkle, who was watching him from a few feet away.

"Told you he was a hero." The earth pony mare said as she walked past the unicorn. Twilight could only stare, as she had no comeback or logic to present. Perhaps she needed to reevaluate her research.

* * *

Rainbow Dash was napping on her cloud, in a very angry manner. She tossed and turned in the comfy cloud, getting little to no comfort from it. She was too angry about Phantom to sleep. He was getting more popular, and even Twilight was having doubts that he was evil. Well not her, she was smart enough to know his game. He was playing the hero, making the town love him until he grew tired of it, then he would destroy the town when he wanted to. She was not going to let that happen. She was going to watch him like a hawk.

A loud scream pierced her thoughts. She looked below the cloud to see a baby carriage rolling out of control down the hill. She could hear a baby crying out from within. Without a second thought, she dove toward it. The cart was speeding down the hill, past dozens of ponies who only watched in horror as the cart made its way toward a cliff.

Rainbow went full speed toward the cart, hoping to grab it before it went over. She caught up to it and grabbed the handle bar with her teeth. Once she had a grip, she planted her hooves into the dirt. Turns out the carriage was heavier than expected as it continued to drag her toward the edge. RD continued to pull against the carriage, leaving tracks in the dirt road. The edge neared closer and closer. The first wheels were at the edge, and it stopped.

Rainbow Dash waited until she couldn't feel the pull anymore before pulling the cart back from the edge. She opened her eyes to check on the foal inside, only to find it empty. Panic spread throughout her brain. Did the foal fall out? Was she too late?!

"My baby!" The mother called out in… relief? Rainbow turned back to the top of the hill to see Star Phantom handing back the mare's foal. The mare carefully checked her baby over before wrapping Phantom into a back breaking hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Star chuckled.

"Don't worry about it. Sorry about the carriage." He said, not knowing that it didn't go over.

"It's okay, I'm just happy my little foal is safe." The mother said as she turned to the cliff. "Oh, never mind. Rainbow Dash saved it." She began waving at the cyan pegasus. "Thank You, Rainbow Dash!"

Only Rainbow Dash didn't listen. She was already flying away, grumbling to herself as she did so. Star watched her go before going to grab the carriage.

He did it again. Took her glory right out from under her nose! Well not next time! She was going to get him. She just needed her hunting equipment.

* * *

Star Phantom had just finished catching another ghost animal, a coyote this time, which was kind of cool, and was about to make his way to the Everfree to dump the thermos. "Hopefully this is it today, because I want to sleep for a long time."

"I'll make you sleep, creep!" A raspy voice echoed through the air. Star looked to see a large ecto-blast heading his way. On instinct, he ducked to avoid the hit. He watched as the shot flew over his head and sailed toward the elderly home.

The bolt hit one of the upstairs balcony support beams, burning away the wooden structure. The balcony began to wobble, knocking the four elderly ponies standing on it off their hooves. Ponies below watched in horror as the balcony started to list. The remaining support beam cracked under the weight.

Star's eyes widened and instinct took over. He ignored the Huntress as he took off toward the home, floating under the balcony and catching it with his hooves. The last support beam snapped as the weight became unbearable. Everypony screamed as the balcony fell. Star felt the weight immediately and began pushing back against it. The balcony held. Emergency ponies ran through the front entrance to get to the second floor. Star could see them running through.

"Hurry, I'm not sure how long I can hold!" Within seconds, he could feel hooves slowly moving toward the door. He just had to hold it long enough for workers to get the elderly to safety. He felt the weight lighten slightly as the first pony was safely back inside, then the second, and the third. The fourth was about to climb in when a shot rang out. Star could only stare at the ecto-blast striking him in the chest.

He screamed in pain and collapsed slightly. This caused the balcony to buckle and the last elderly stallion on it to tumble toward the railing. The Huntress took aim, ready to shoot her prey once more. Only she never got the chance as a lasso wrapped around her blaster and yanked it from her hooves. The Huntress stared at the mare who took her gun. AppleJack smashed it to pieces before glaring at her.

With a final push, Star raised the balcony high enough to allow the last pony to escape. The emergency crews cleared the building, and the last one gave him a nod, signalling that they were clear. Star nodded back and allowed the balcony to slowly drop. Once it was at a safe distance, he let it crash to the ground by going intangible.

He phased through the other side, and was immediately hounded by a cheering crowd. Star would've normally flown away, but he was too tired to even try. So instead, AppleJack helped him onto a cart before taking him away.

Her excuse was that she knew where he hung out, and was going to take him there. Some Phans attempted to follow, but they were blocked by Vinyl and Octavia, who were standing nearby. Doctor Hooves was in the cart, giving Star some medical help to make sure his body was over strained. Lyra grabbed the thermos from the halfa and promised to dump it in the Everfree, grabbing her own personal blaster to deal with any monsters she encountered.

Rainbow could only watch in dismay as she saw just how many ponies were willing to ally with Phantom. A loud cough caught her attention, turning to face an angry Twilight Sparkle.

"We need to talk."

* * *

Rainbow Dash sat in Twilight's tree home. The unicorn was pacing around the room, putting away every single piece of ghost hunting equipment.

"You have been getting more and more reckless, Rainbow Dash. I let it slide because you were protecting the town, but now this is just petty rivalry!"

"It's not petty, Twilight! Phantom is evil, I know it!"

"Well I don't!" Twilight shouted, silencing the pegasus. "In the past, I thought he was a villain. But his recent actions have caused me to change my views." Rainbow was stunned by that statement. Twilight was willing to trust Phantom?! No way was she going to let it happen.

"Twilight, you can't be serious!"

"Oh I am. So much so that I am taking away your equipment, and all of my equipment!" The pegasus was shocked, she didn't want to believe it. But the sight of the purple unicorn dumping all of the hunting equipment into a container before Spike took it all down to the basement proved that she wasn't bluffing.

"I can't trust you anymore, Rainbow. Not after that stunt today."

"I'll prove it." RD muttered. Twilight gave her a questioning look.

'What did you say?"

"I said I'll prove it!" Rainbow bellowed before taking off through the open window. Twilight could only stare as she watched the rainbow trail disappear into the night sky. She shook her head and decided to call it an early night.

* * *

Rainbow flew angrily toward her house. In a flash, she flew through the door, through her halls, and into her bedroom. She slammed her bedroom door shut and screamed. It lasted a good couple of seconds before her lungs demanded air. The mare took a few shallow breaths and readied to scream again, when something caught her eye.

It was a box sitting on her bed. With caution, she grabbed it and looked it over. On the top was a note. She took the note and read it over.

_He has everypony else fooled, but not you. So here, some personal gear for you. Consider it a gift. _

_~ Blau Sango_

Rainbow looked curiously at the note, then at the box. She dropped the small piece of paper and opened up the box. Her eyes widened in surprise before her teeth bared with a malicious grin.

* * *

It was a new day in Ponyville for Star Phantom as he once again flew over the town. He planned on having a much shorter patrol day than normal, as per recommendation by the Doc. Lyra and Octavia promised to take over after their orchestra practice in the afternoon.

Maybe he could go over and listen. They always sounded great. He wasn't aware of the pink targeting scope locking onto him, the pony looking through grinned as she readied the trigger.

Star stopped to look around the market, when he heard somepony call his name. "Phantom, down here!" He looked down to see one of AppleBloom's friends, Scootaloo, waving at him. She and some of her friends were wearing different kinds of Star Phantom memorabilia, from shirts to wigs shaped and colored to his mane. The halfa smiled before diving down.

The targeting scope beeped rapidly as it locked onto his ecto-signature. The pony pressed the button, and a missile launched from the bazooka.

Star heard the small explosion and looked over to see a pink missile heading right for him. On a dime, he shot up, the missile followed closely behind. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was locked onto him. He fought Skulker enough times to know that. Normally, he would've shot the missile and be done with it. But he didn't want to risk sending shrapnel across town. So he had to lead it away. Thankfully, he was close to the edge of town. Once he was clear, he could blast this thing to smithereens.

So the chase began, he took off away from town. All eyes were on him as he flew away, including a pair hidden behind a face mask.

* * *

Star was about to clear town when something blocked his way, forcing him to stop. He didn't have time to see what it was when the missile struck. The concussive wave of the blast sent him falling toward the ground, and the heat singed his fur. A small crater formed around the area he impacted. He was in a daze as he struggled to clear his vision. A blue figure hovered into his sightline.

With a few blinks and the shake of his head, Star's vision cleared to reveal a new and improved Huntress hovering over him. Her once all blue suit was now midnight black with blue lines. Her hooves were planted firmly on a much sharper hoverboard.

"Wow." He said through gritted teeth. "New toys?"

"I made a few upgrades." She said smugly. Her voice sounded more synthetic than it did before. Star gave her a look before standing up.

His body was covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. But that was normal for him at this point. The pain was minor, so he could care less if his joints ached. Star looked at her and asked, "Why?"

That caught her off guard. "Why, what?"

"Why are you so dead set on hunting me?! I haven't done anything to you, I help the town, and I keep the ghosts at bay. You don't even try to hunt other ghosts, you just want me, so I want to know why, dammit!" The halfa had to take several breaths to recover the air he lost from his small rant. Silence fell between the two as an epic stare down began.

"Why?" The Huntress snarled. "Because ghosts are evil, so you're evil. You act all cool, but you're just faking. I know it because you tried to take my fans away from me!" She stopped, realizing what she said. Now the pegasus has put her hoof in her mouth, she just gave away her secret identity. There was only one pony in all of Ponyville with fans, and that was Rainbow Dash.

Phantom stared at her as if she just grew a second head. That look carried deadly daggers behind it. "Fans?" He growled. "Fans, are you kidding me?!"

Rainbow felt a chill go down her spine, and it wasn't because she was scared. Her HUD was giving her a sudden temperature drop, almost below freezing and still falling. Star's normally messy mane began to transform into bright white flames. His teeth sharpened, and his eyes were now blood red.

"You mean to tell me you want to kill me because of some petty jealousy?! You risked ponies lives because of your stupid ego!" His voice bellowed in baritone. "I'm through with this, it ends tonight!" With a charge of his hooves, Star Phantom opened fire with his ecto-blasts. Rainbow had no time to dodge before she was hit with the twin blasts.

The pegasus was sent flying from her board, so she was forced to use her wings to keep from hitting the ground. She pressed the recall button on her suit, sending a signal for the board to catch her. With skilled precision, she flipped over and landed on the board. RD smiled to herself for her skillful catch, but another blast from Phantom reminded her of her current situation.

She dared to look back and saw a livid Star Phantom coming up behind her. With a scream, she pushed her board to its limits, yet still the halfa was catching up. Rainbow made for the town, she could hide there and lay low until Phantom calmed down, if he calmed down. It took only seconds to fly over to the town center, where she dove to take cover in an empty shop.

But the Huntress never made it to the shop, for she was tackled off her board by Phantom, and pile drived into the ground. He stood over her with sharp teeth bare. Deep, animalistic growls echoed from his throat.

"I've had it with you, Rainbow. I was going to let bygones be bygones, but you crossed the line. Now, I'm going to end this!" He raised a hoof, then slammed it down onto her helmet, cracking the supposedly unbreakable glass. He delivered another, further cracking the helmet. He kept on going, creating dozens of large and small cracks. Rainbow's suit was giving off warnings, but she could do nothing but accept each hit. With one last powerful punch, the helmet shattered.

Now Rainbow could see her prey turned hunter with her own, frightened eyes. He stood tall over her, giving off an aura of pure anger and hatred.

"There, now we can do this face to face." His sick smile made the situation all the more terrifying. He winded up another hit, activating his ecto-hooves. This was it, the kill shot he had been preparing for all night. Just one good hit.

"Star, stop!" The familiar accent of the Apple Family drew Star's attention from his victim. He saw AppleJack and the others standing a few feet away. Each of them were carrying ecto-weapons, all were pointed at him. But they were not alone. A few late night workers heard the commotion, and went to see what was going on. Twilight stood there, her notes held in her magic. Her face showed horror and regret.

Star could only look around, his hoof powered down and lowered. After an endless silent staring match, he backed off of Rainbow Dash, who was immediately dragged away by Twilight.

It was dead silent. An aura of fear and uncertainty fell over the town. Without a word, Star took off and disappeared into the night sky. AJ turned to the rest of Team Phantom. "Find out what happened with Rainbow, Ah'll deal with Star." They nodded without a word and walked over to question the cyan pegasus. Bon Bon decided to clear out the onlookers and find a way to explain what just happened, but that was easier said than done. AJ ran off back toward the Acres, where she knew Star would be waiting.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find him, he was in his usual hiding place in the barn, still in his new form. He was just standing there, seething. Before she even stepped inside, he turned and glared at her.

"Why did you stop me?"

"You were going tah kill her." She said simply.

'So?" On the outside, the orange mare was blank. But on the inside, she was crying. When had her brother changed this much?

AppleJack took a step forward. "This isn't you, Star. Star Phantom wouldn't hurt somepony like this."

The halfa glared. "Well maybe Star Phantom needs to change."

"If he needs a change, then he's no better than BlueBlood."

Star shot forward and bared his teeth. "Do not compare him to me, I'm much stronger and bolder than that faker!" Now AJ couldn't hide her pain, tears began to flow and she backed away from her twin. That made the halfa stop and look at himself from a nearby piece of glass.

What happened to him? Why was he like this?

_She doesn't get it, she's too soft._ That's his sister, his twin. They did everything together. They would never hurt each other.

_She's just in the way._ No, she cares.

_He should get rid of her._ "NO!" Star said, turning the mirror into ashes with a single blast. AppleJack yelped. The air was still as Star stared at the charred ground where the glass once stood.

"I… I didn't…." He looked to his sister, who only stood there in shock. His flaming mane died out. His teeth were flat once more, and his tear filled eyes were once again green. "AppleJack… I'm so sorry." The halfa collapsed to his knees, the white ring transformed him from Star Phantom to Star Apple. AppleJack wasted no time in running to her brother's side.

She wrapped her hooves around him as he cried into her shoulder. "I'm sorry." He muttered over and over again. They held each other close long into the night, until Star passed out and his twin carried him to his room.

* * *

Watching the scene through one of the many Time Portals was Clockwork, a frown was the only show of emotion he could display. Behind him stood two ghostly creatures. They wore special robes, floating there with only Giant Eyeballs for heads. They were the Observants, members of the Council of the Spirit Realm.

"As you can see, Clockwork, that stallion is becoming a danger, and if the future is like you foretold, then we will all be destroyed."

The Alicorn of Time turned to face them. "And what shall you have me do?"

"You already know, Clockwork. That pony must be destroyed first." Clockwork said nothing, instead choosing to turn back toward the Time Portal. The Observants continued to stare, they would not leave without a response.

It was a while before he gave one. "I shall continue to observe, if he becomes too unstable, then I shall be left with little choice-"

"There is no more time, Clockwork. He must be destroyed-"

"Never interrupt me and never tell me about time!" Both Observants recoiled. Clockwork was never one to be angry.

"I shall deal with the events as they happen. Time has rules, I cannot interfere unless the situation is dire. There is still time to prevent this, and I will take those opportunities as they appear." The Observants said nothing in return.

"Now leave, your visit has been overstayed."

"Very well, Clockwork." The two left without another word, leaving Clockwork alone with his thoughts. He stared at the portal for a moment before looking at another.

Within this portal was a burning world, and a stallion of black and white laughing over it all.

Time was running short, change had to happen, and it had to happen soon.


	5. Chapter 5: Next of Kin

Ghost Blood stared at the blank screen in front of him, turning several dials on a board. "File 3A, open." Images appeared on screen, they contained Star Phantom being blasted by the Huntress. "Stop."

"File 8B, open." New images of Star Apple transforming into Star Phantom appeared. "Stop."

"File 15C, open." More images of Star Phantom fighting and transforming appeared on the screen. Ghost Blood studied them closely. "I got everything right, I followed these files exactly. There shouldn't be anything wrong… but there is." He turned to a series of tubes filled with toxic green liquid.

"The stability is non-existent, when it should be complete, or at least mostly. So what am I missing?!"

The image of a unicorn with light blue fur and a black mane appeared, fizzling in and out as she spoke. "_Analysis indicates that subjects are missing a vital piece, puddin'." _She said, adding a nickname to the end for no reason.

"_Mid-Morph DNA has yet to be extracted." _Ghost Blood's eyes widened. Of course, how could he have been so blind? Without the mid-morph DNA, none of his subjects could handle the power and energy required to survive. He had to obtain it. He couldn't use the Huntress. That would mean her seeing Phantom transform and shooting him while doing so. Even that egotistical wonder brain could put two and two together, and if she announces the existence of Halfas, Star and Luna won't hesitate to call him out.

No, he had to let his other 'assets' deal with it. He turned to four figures, each of various shapes and sizes.

"You know what to do, acquire that DNA at any cost." The four figures bowed.

"Yes, father." They said monotonously, then took flight. Ghost Blood laughed.

"Ha ha, Father. I love it so much!"

**Star Phantom in:**

**Next of Kin**

**Must be Informed**

It was another bright and sunny day in Ponyville. Ponies were out and about doing their usual business. At the local bowling alley, StarShine Apple and his crew were hanging around near one of the lanes. Vinyl rolled her ball forward, it travelled down the lane and was about to hit the pins, when it decided to divert to the right and roll into the gutter. The unicorn huffed as that was her last ball, and this was the final round. She was just behind Octavia, who was killing it with two strikes and a spare. The earth pony mare chuckled as she saw how frustrated Vinyl was.

"See, Vinyl, this proves that in order to bowl, one must be elegant and precise." She said smugly as she walked up to the ball rack and grabbed a fresh one. She used a hoof to hold the ball in place and aim. Star had a smirk on his face as he stood up and disappeared around a corner.

Octavia rolled her ball forward. It screamed down the lane, aiming dead center, only to veer left into the gutter. Octavia blinked, then grabbed another ball. She did the same process again. The ball went to the right. The mare uncharacteristically growled before trying a third time. She rolled the ball forward and glared at it to keep straight. It did go straight… through the pins. The pins remained upstanding as the ball rolled through them and fell down the pit. Octavia's jaw dropped as Vinyl unleashed a howl. Star chose that moment to reappear.

"Ooh, sorry Octavia. Guess it takes more than being elegant to win at bowling."

"Perhaps when ghosts are to blame." She retorted cheekily.

"Still counts, by the way!" Vinyl declared after getting her breath back.

Star smiled at the two mares. "Thanks for this, guys. I didn't know how much I needed to have fun."

"It was our pleasure, Star. After everything you've been through in the past few weeks, this is nothing." The halfa nodded as he understood. Discord, Bounty Hunters, Desiree, Blood Blossoms and Rainbow Dash were heavy on him, but that was the life of a hero. He was just glad that he had friends and family to help him out.

The moment was cut short by his ghost sense going off and a loud shriek from a few lanes over. Floating above the ponies was a ghostly… bed sheet. Strange look. Yet it still scared the ponies inside, who stampeded through the exit. The entire alley was cleared in seconds, leaving only Star, his friends, and the ghost. With no pony around to see, Star had no issues transforming into Phantom.

The halfa flew up to the ghost, while Octavia and Vinyl reached for the small balsters they kept with them.

"What kinda ghost haunts a bowling alley?" Vinyl asked.

"Well, there is a Box Ghost." Octavia pointed out with a bored expression. "Obviously, all of the good haunts are taken."

"Alright, buddy. Buzz off while I'm still in a good mood." Star ordered, readying his ecto blasts.

"_Change back._" The ghost said before flying through the roof. Star gave chase, leaving his two friends to run outside and right into the panicking crowd.

As the two pushed their way through the sea of ponies, Octavia sighed. "And this is why I refuse to go to your raves, Vinyl."

* * *

Star flew high into the air to catch the bed sheet ghost, who just kept on flying onward, not firing back, not taunting him in anyway, or even shouting beware! Normally, Star would be relieved by this sort of thing, but it was too strange. With an extra boost, he launched forward and grabbed at the sheet. He shot forward, yanking the sheet with him.

"Gotcha." He looked down to find the bed sheet limp in his hooves. He turned to look behind him and the image before him was terrifying.

The ghost floating before him had pitch black bones with toxic green lighting to highlight them. His eyes were blood red, and eerie smoke trailed from where his legs would be. The ghost screeched before charging forward.

Star screamed and flipped himself over to avoid the charge. He aimed at the skeleton ghost and fired. The ghost turned a full 180 degrees and charged at Star again, who could not avoid it this time. The skeleton ghost wrapped around him and began pushing the halfa toward the ground.

"_Change back~." _It moaned. Star gave it a confused look before powering up his hind leg. With a mighty ecto kick, he sent the skeleton ghost flying into the air. Star then fired several ecto blasts, each of them slamming into the ghost. The ghost fell to the ground, hitting the gravel and splashing into goo. Star landed gently on the ground next to the puddle of goo and stared.

Octavia and Vinyl joined him soon after,

"What was that?" Vinyl asked as Octavia carefully collected the goo. Star looked down at the bed sheet, which was also melting into goo.

"I don't know, but we're gonna find out."

* * *

They found nothing, so far. The three brought the sample to the Doc to see if he knew anything. He didn't, but vowed to find it out. The earth pony scientist placed the jar inside of a containment field that would analyze the substance and determine who or what this thing was. Now Star was left to wonder.

Why did that thing want him to 'change back?' What did that even mean? Who sent it? All questions he planned on getting answers for tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

Star opened the door to his home at Sweet Apple Acres and what he saw shocked him.

Sitting at the table, eating a piece of Apple Pie was a young filly, a little older than Apple Bloom. She had snow white fur, a pitch black mane, blue eyes, and a Cutie Mark of Stars and a Crescent Moon. The filly took a large bite of her pie, barely chewing before swallowing. Once she did, her head turned to face the halfa.

Her eyes beamed as her teeth flashed in a large smile. "Hi, I'm Nova, NovaBright Apple." Star stared in shock as Nova took another large piece of her pie and ate it up. She seemed to ignore his staring until she finished the pie and licked her plate clean.

With a cheeky grin, she looked to Star. "Catch any flies?" Star shook his head.

"Hey, Nova. I'm Star, StarShine Apple." Strange, Star swore he had met every family member there was at the Family Reunions. Maybe he just never saw her, it was a big family after all. His own cheeky grin came out.

"I see you helped yourself to some of Granny's pie." Nova looked sheepishly at the empty plate.

"Sorry, it's just been awhile since I had something to eat." Star stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Her tone gave off something that he didn't like.

"Want something else?" He asked casually, moving over to the pantry. "We have regular apples, or I could whip up an apple fritter."

Nova thought for a moment, then decided. "Can I actually have a hayburger? I always wanted to try one." Star thought for a moment, then looked out the window. It was dark outside, no doubt everything was closed for the night.

"Maybe tomorrow, it's a bit late to go out and eat." Nova nodded.

"Okay, maybe a fritter, then." Star smiled and began the intricate process of making an Apple Family Fritter. As he did so, he had so many questions running through his mind. Who was this filly? Why was she here? How did she get here? He'd have to ask her that, but for now, she needed to eat.

Six, she ate six apple fritters. How hungry was this filly?!

Star could only stare at the filly who just devoured those fritters. She could give AppleJack a run for her money. Nova laid back in the chair and patted her stomach comfortingly. The halfa laughed as she unleashed a true Apple Family burp.

"Alright, let's get you to bed." He said, picking her up and placing her on his back. He quietly tiptoed his way upstairs to his room, passing by his sleeping siblings in the process. It was a wonder none of them woke up with the amount of noise he was making downstairs.

Once inside his room, he closed the door and gently placed the girl on the bed. She was already fast asleep when he placed the covers over her. Star couldn't explain it, but she felt familiar, and he had this need to make sure she was warm and comforted. So he decided to let her have the bed, while he grabbed the spare pillow and blanket to sleep on the floor.

Star quietly laid himself out on the floor, listening to the soft snoring that Nova was creating. He smiled as he went to bed, unaware of the guilty look Nova had on her face.

* * *

The next day came and everything seemed normal. Star was in town, working the Apple Family Cart. This time, however, he had a new helper. Nova wanted to hang out with him today, and seemed excited when he asked her to help out.

He gave her a basic rundown of what she needed to do. Attract customers, see what they want, give it to them, and do it honestly. Star still remembered what happened when AB tried to help with the cart, it didn't end well.

Nova nodded, then went right to work. Star was expecting her to get overexcited, try and aggressively attract ponies over; but, to his surprise, she did the opposite. She waited until ponies were nearby, browsing the stalls, and politely asked them if they were interested. If they were, she'd answer any questions about what products they had. If they weren't, she'd smile and let them be.

To say the Halfa was impressed was an understatement. He gave Derpy her apple muffin, then turned to the filly. "I gotta say, you handle this like a pro." Nova smiled at him.

"Thanks, I just… want to help out." Patient and Modest, wow, definitely older for her age. Star smiled at her and gave her a hearty pat on the back. She flinched at the contact, something Star picked up on.

"Hey, you okay?" Nova blinked.

"Uh… yeah, I'm fine, just… not used to that sort of thing."

Now Star was concerned. "What do you mean?" Nova didn't say anything, she just turned away. The stallion lowered himself to her level. "Nova, look at me." She did so, rather reluctantly. He stared at her for ages before asking the question he begged he wouldn't have.

"Nova, did you run away?" She said nothing. He pressed and she caved.

"I did." Her voice was so quiet, she could give Fluttershy a run for her money.

"Did your family-"

"No, daddy loves me, it's just…" Now Star was angry, angry at the notion that somepony in his family would treat a young filly, _their_ young filly, in such a cruel way. But for now, he had to keep that anger buried and focus on the now scared Nova in front of him. "Please, I… I don't-"

"It's okay, I'm not going to think less of you or treat you any differently. You're family and family sticks together, right?" Nova looked at him like he had just told her the meaning of life. Her eyes were filled with hope and admiration, but there was something else, something that he couldn't figure out. But that could wait. For now, he had to help Nova.

"You know, AppleJack will be taking over soon. We can head out, have lunch, maybe go to the park." He said, subtly putting suggestions out there. Nova blinked and smiled.

"We could get those hayburgers you promised me."

Star smiled. "Sure, just another hour and we'll let AJ take over." With that, the two went back to work, one of them being unaware of the toxic green eyes watching from the shadows.

* * *

Star and Nova walked out of the Hayburgers with full stomachs and satisfied grins on their faces. Nova ended up eating three whole hayburgers before she finally felt full, not that Star minded. He was just glad she was happy.

"So, now what?" Star asked. Nova looked at him with a smile.

"I'd never been to a park before." Star had to keep grinning, but his mind was screaming at her father.

"Alright, let's go." The moment those words left his mouth, a cold breath of air followed. His ghost sense.

No, not now! "Nova, I need you to run."

"What, why?!" The hurt in her voice made his heart ache.

"Trust me, just run back to the market and get AppleJack, tell her-" A loud roar drew their attention to the skies above. Diving toward him was a massive bulking stallion with surgical scars all over his body. He looked like a Frankenstein Monster on steroids.

"Go!" He didn't hesitate to transform, completing it just as the ghost tackled him to the ground. Star groaned in pain as he was lifted by his fur into the air.

"Change back." The ghost growled.

"You too?" The halfa muttered.

"Hey, ugly!" Both stallions turned to see Nova standing tall a few feet away. "You wanna fight, you got it!"

"Nova? Get outta here!" Star cried.

"Oh no, I don't run away from fights." She struck a pose and two white rings formed on both her head and rear hooves. The rings travelled across her body, transforming her image as it did. Her black mane became snow white, her fur turned to black, and her eyes glowed a toxic green. She took off into the air and charged at the brute.

With a mighty slam, she sent the large ghost flying down the street. Star could only stare and stutter in shock at the new half ghost.

"Nova, when, how-"

"Do ya wanna ask questions or kick some butt?" Star grinned and nodded, readying his ecto-hooves for a fight. The brute roared and charged. Both halfas aimed their hooves at him and fired. The two blasts combined into one large beam, which enveloped the brute, who roared in pain as his form disappeared. When the light dimmed, all that was left was a puddle of goo.

Star and Nova landed on the ground, staring at the pile. Star noticed that Nova had a disturbed look on her face. He approached the puddle and leaned in to look at it. "This is just like a ghost from the bowling alley." His eyes scanned the area around him, as if waiting for another to appear. When nothing else appeared, he turned to Nova.

"Okay, I have questions and you're going to answer them." His tone was harsh, but he needed answers. Nova nodded glumly. "First question, how?"

"My… my father. He created me, turned me into… this." Nova looked at her hoof and sighed.

"And who is your father?"

"That would be me, StarShine." Star turned to see GhostBlood floating above him.

"What?!" Star looked at Nova, who took a step back at the gaze she received. "So he…" His glare turned to the other stallion and he growled. GhostBlood said nothing as he fired a pink blast from his hoof. Star summoned an ecto-shield, but the power of the blast was straining it. He turned to look at Nova once more, only this time she was preparing an ecto-blast.

"Nova." He whispered. He didn't know if she heard him as she fired. The shot hit him in the back, the heat was intense and the shock made him drop the shield. GhostBlood's blast slammed into his chest, sending him flying. He landed several feet away, his vision going dark.

"Did I do good, daddy?" Nova asked nervously.

"You did, my sweet child, congratulations." Star felt his heart break as he lost consciousness.

* * *

A small machine gave off a loud Ding, waking Doctor Hooves up with a start. He looked at the machine and smiled. Finally, the results of the test. He ran over to the machine and grabbed the paper that had just been printed. He read it over once, twice, thrice, and once more to make sure he wasn't sleep deprived. This should be impossible. He had to get the others.

The scientist ran over to his desk and pressed the green button on the side.

* * *

Star's body ached. He tried to adjust himself to get comfortable, but felt something wrapped around his hooves, preventing him from moving. His eyes snapped open as memories flowed back to him. "Nova!" He got no response, he was alone. His eyes shifted around, taking in the sights. He was in a lab, a dark lab with computers and large tubes spanning the walls. Large pipes towered over him, hanging from the ceiling and disappearing through the walls.

Where was he?

"Ah, finally awake, are we?" Star turned to see BlueBlood enter the room. The halfa growled as his counterpart stepped up.

"Ooh, the scary eyes again, seriously StarShine, you know those won't work on me." As if to prove his point, BlueBlood marched right up to Star and smacked him in the face. "See?"

"Now, normally I'd give you a chance to make some witty banter, but I'm on a tight schedule." Star glared at the corrupt Noble as he continued to speak. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to give me the Mid-Morph DNA I require and I'll let you go."

Star raised an eyebrow. Mid-Morph DNA? BlueBlood must've noticed this as he rolled his eyes.

"I forgot about your small, commoner brain." He muttered. "Mid-Morph DNA is the genetic code that allows you to transform from living to dead, same as me. I need yours to complete my ultimate project." The unicorn turned to a large tube in the center of the room, Star looked at it and gasped as he saw what was inside.

It was him, asleep with wires connected to his face and body. "You see StarShine, I plan on ruling Equestria soon and every ruler needs an heir."

He was serious, dead serious. That's why he asked Star to join him.

"Unfortunately, my… condition would make it impossible to find a proper mare to conceive an heir with, so I had to do the next best thing. Cloning." Star could only stare in shock and horror at the revelation. BlueBlood wanted to create clones of him.

"I see you understand now, I want you to be my heir. Halfas should rule both worlds. But while you refused, you're clone won't."

"What about Nova?" BlueBlood blinked. He expected witty remarks, an insult, a threat. He didn't expect to be asked about that mistake.

"What about her? She's an imperfection, a mistake in the process. I could only care so…" BlueBlood saw the look on Star's face, his gaze on something behind him. The unicorn turned to see Nova floating there, a look of hurt on her face. Uh oh.

"Nova." He said nervously. "How long have you been floating there?"

"Am I an imperfection?" She growled. "A mistake?!"

"No!" BlueBlood shouted. "No no no no. You're not a mistake, my dear. I meant there were mistakes in the process." That didn't seem to help. "Mistakes that I intend to fix and help you."

"Liar!" Both the unicorn and the clone turned to Star, who was glowing with rage. "You don't care! You want me! She's just a step and you know it!" He would've continued if he wasn't smacked hard by BlueBlood.

"Silence, you filthy commoner! You're wrong!" He wasn't wrong, but Nova didn't need to know that. He turned back to Nova. "The truth is that you're running on limited energy. I can't save you unless I have that Mid-Morph DNA." Nova seemed to look hopeful at that, then deflated. "Once we get Star to transform, we have it." He stomped a hoof on the ground and a small toxic green orb appeared. It looked like a tiny version of Star. BlueBlood nodded at the tiny clone, which bowed and flew right into the original Star.

Star screamed as he felt the being enter his brain and attempt to take over. "Get. Out. of Me!" Nova had to close her eyes and block out the screams. She wanted to be fixed, but was this the way to do it?

* * *

AppleJack held tightly onto her seat as the ship swerved violently. Doctor Hooves was the one piloting the ship and he was in a hurry. AJ kept her eyes on the Booomerang as it spun through the air. When the Doc asked about Star, she thought he'd be at the park with Nova, but when Octavia and Vinyl confirmed he wasn't, as they were practicing nearby, she grew afraid. Her fears were confirmed when Doc explained what that stuff was.

It was Star, his DNA, tampered with by somepony. Somepony was trying to make copies of her brother, and she was going to kill them for it.

She decided to calm herself down by going over the weapons she brought with her. She had her lasso, but she also packed a blaster rifle and thermos to deal with whatever they encountered. AppleJack could only hope she wasn't too late.

* * *

Star finally stopped screaming, but his face was just as haunting. He looked tired and drained, his eyes giving off a dim glow. BlueBlood didn't seem bothered by it, but Nova felt sick. Star's body began to glow, the infamous white ring formed. It began to slowly spread across his body. One of the screens had a silhouette of the halfa on display, with a green fill in where the rings have already travelled.

"_10 Percent." _Galatea reported. Nova turned away. She didn't want to see this.

"_15 Percent." _BlueBlood grinned. Finally, he could get the clone he always wanted.

"_25 Percent." _

"_20 Percent." _What?

"_10 Percent." _

"No, stop!" BlueBlood shouted. The small Star clone was flung from the original's head, stopping a few inches short of the unicorn. He stared at the thing as it looked back at him, glared, and melted into a small spot of goo that landed on his snout.

BlueBlood growled as he wiped off the goo. A loud warning bell went off as the screen flashed red.

"_Warning, energy build up. Please step away from the tube." _

"No, no no no no no!" Star's tube exploded, sending glass and smoke everywhere. Nova watched as a dazed Star Phantom floated past them. BlueBlood glared, he should've seen this coming. He took a deep breath and put on his best fake smile.

"Nova, go and fetch him, please. I'll prepare another tube." Nova said nothing, she simply nodded and flew off.

* * *

Nova stopped inside the living room of BlueBlood's Estate, where there were plenty of dead animal furs scattered in every direction. She looked around the room, hoping to see something that could give her a clue. She found it, a large white hoof sticking out behind the couch. She flew over and saw Star struggling to move on the floor, the recent attempt at over-shadowing had drained him completely.

His eyes fell on hers and the look unnerved her. She expected anger, betrayal, anything but what she saw. She saw despair, but not for him, it was for her.

"Nova, you… don't have to… do this."

"I do, I don't know how much time I have." She said, landing softly on the ground. "Every clone melts away, and I'm no different."

"But you are." She looked at him with surprise. "You're more different than you know." He attempted to sit up, but it was hopeless. Nova frowned and helped him up. He nodded at her in thanks before continuing.

"You're not mindless like the rest, I don't even see a clone." Nova didn't realize she was tearing up until Star's hoof brushed them away. "I see a little filly who needs a family."

"So give Daddy the Mid-Morph DNA, so he can save me!" Star glared.

"He won't save you!" He shouted. "To him, you're a tool. Watch, he gets the DNA and he'll throw you aside!" Nova shoved him to the ground.

'You're a liar!" She cried. "He loves me!" Star looked at her with pity, but sad nothing more. He didn't even resist when Nova grabbed him and dragged him back into the lab.

* * *

BlueBlood grinned as he watched Star be thrown into the new tube. This was it. He would succeed. "Good job, Nova dear. Now I just have one more thing to ask you." Nova looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"We need StarShine to transform and he won't do it willingly. But you can make him do it." No, he couldn't be asking her to do that.

"Just possess him and make him do it. Once he does, you can leave his body and we can fix this."

"But… what if I melt like all the other clones?" She asked nervously. She saw his eye twitch.

"I promise, you'll be fine. Now do as I ask."

"But… but what if-"

"ARRRGGGHHH!" Nova flinched back as BlueBlood roared. "I've had enough of ponies questioning me, filly." He spat. "Now do as I ask!" That was the moment it hit Nova. BlueBlood didn't care about her, Star was right. She was a tool. But not anymore, now she was just an angry filly.

"You're not my daddy." She aimed an ecto-blast and fired into his chest, sending the unicorn flying back toward the wall. Nova shot over to the tube and opened it up, catching Star as he fell forward.

"Come on, let's get outta here!"

"You two aren't going anywhere." GhostBlood growled as he floated above them. His sharp teeth glistened as he gritted them in rage. "I guess you have a little too much StarShine in you. A mistake I won't make twice." He aimed an ecto-blast at the two of them.

Nova was panicking. He could barely lift Star to avoid the blast and she was too weak to raise a shield to protect them. Maybe this was it. Maybe she was destined to be destroyed for GhostBlood's goals. She closed her eyes and prepared for the pain.

*Wham* "Ouch!" She opened her eyes to see GhostBlood rubbing the back of his head in pain, then to the strange device floating in front of her.

"_Star Phantom Detected." _It said. "_Location Confirmed." _GhostBlood grabbed the device and stared at it, completely confused.

"What infernal device is this?"

"It's… a tracking device." Star said, lifting his head to grin at the unicorn. "My… family… found me." GhostBlood glared.

"They'll only find your corpse." A loud crash drew attention to the left side wall. There was a large gaping hole in the wall, with a strange chariot-like vehicle sticking through it. AppleJack jumped out of the vehicle, with a blaster rifle raised.

"Back away from mah brother." She growled, charging up the blaster. GhostBlood rolled his eyes and aimed an ecto-blast. AJ fired first, sending the halfa into one of the filled tubes. Doctor Hooves ran from the vehicle and helped Nova carry Star out of the lab.

AppleJack looked around. The sight made her sick. There were over a tozen tubes, all of them full. Each one had Stars of different shapes and sizes. Her eyes fell on the one that GhostBlood slammed into and saw inside. It was a perfect copy of Star and it made her angry. The halfa tried to stand up, dazed by the impact. AJ aimed up and fired at the pipe connecting the tube. That seemed to be the only thing keeping it up as the tube began to fall forward.

GhostBlood saw what was happening and dove forward to avoid being crushed. His face fell as he realized which tube was destroyed. "No." he whispered as the seal on the tube was broken. He opened the door to get a better look at the clone inside.

It blinked and stared at him. It gave a small smile before its hooves began to melt. It looked at its melting body with horror before turning to gaze at its creator one last time. It reached out in a vain attempt to grab him, but that hoof had melted away too quickly. Its eyes were the last thing to melt before it became a tub of goo. GhostBlood screamed in rage and pain as his creation was destroyed.

AppleJack stared at the pathetic unicorn, then turned to leave. But not before leaving a little present for the Noble who tried to clone her brother.

No pony said a word as the speeder flew away and BlueBlood's estate exploded into a massive fireball.

* * *

Star and Nova sat alone in the kitchen, per the stallion's request. Nothing was said between them as neither had any idea of what to say. What could be said?

"I'm sorry." Nova said suddenly, breaking the silence. Star was a bit gobsmacked.

"Uh… for what?" Not the best question to ask, but oh well.

"For everything, tricking you, blasting you… helping him. I just thought-"

"It's okay, I understand, more than you know." Nova looked up at him. "I understand wanting to be normal, to be 'fixed.'" He looked down at her with a smile. "But I have to remind myself that this is normal, that anything that I think needs to be fixed is actually a great strength of mine." He kneeled down to her level.

"And you need to understand that, too." The little filly jumped into his hooves, nearly breaking his neck in the tight hug she was giving. She was definitely an Apple.

"Thank you." She said, then pulled back. "But I'm also sorry for leaving."

"Wait, what?" Nova floated a few feet above him with a sad smile.

"I can't stay and I don't want to." Star's face fell at that statement. "I've been stuck in that lab my entire life. I wanna see the world, explore. Be myself." Star nodded and tried to smile as best he could. But it was hard, she was just a little filly who deserved better and Star wanted to give her better. Nova saw through his ruse and hugged him again.

"But I will be back, I promise." With that, she let go and took off into the sunset, disappearing in the distance.

Star watched her go with tears in his eyes and a proud smile on his face.

Nova laughed as she felt the wind in her mane and freedom for the first time in her life.


End file.
